


Mafia X Vampire

by Naintarlow



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!, Rosario + Vampire
Genre: Adventure & Romance, Crossover, F/M, Fantasy, Gen, Mystery, Sawada Tsunayoshi Is Not Vongola Decimo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-14 14:54:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 166,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29172984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Naintarlow/pseuds/Naintarlow
Summary: He is no longer Vongola Decimo. He was a puppet, a bait no longer useful. Thrown to the wayside, his guardians, even his mentor left him. Wanting to get away, Tsuna left Namimori and was soon enrolled in Youkai Academy. With new friends, new enemies on the horizon, can the former mafia boss move on? Or will the Mafia once again try to take over his life?
Relationships: Sawada Tsunayoshi/Akashiya Moka
Comments: 14
Kudos: 37





	1. High School for Monsters

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone, Naintarlow here, uploading my second ever fic from FF.net  
> As with my other story, I will upload the rest of the completed chapters in a few days after going over them one last time
> 
> For Rosario, I will be using the manga as a source rather than the anime. I liked the anime but I am more partial to the manga's story. With Reborn, everything up to the future arc happened, so for the time being the last 2 arcs of the manga didn't happen.
> 
> Hope you enjoy the story, feel free to share waht you thought of it, I would love to get some feedback

"Be safe Tsu-kun and call me at least once a week, okay?"

Sawada Tsunayoshi smiled at his mother, who couldn't stop telling him how manly he looked, before saying his goodbyes and leaving.

The 16 year was about to start his high school life. As he walked toward the bus station, he began to reminisce about the last few years.

After they came back from the future, things seemed to settle down. The Mafia and its shenanigans still butted into his life but it was nothing life treating. He made his peace with his position as Vongola Decimo. If he can't escape the Mafia, he could at least change it as he told his ancestors.

Of course, he should have known his luck was the kind that let him lower his guard. before screwing him over once again.

At the Inheritance Ceremony, it came to light, that Massimo Vongola was still alive. He survived the assassination attempt but was reported dead to confuse his enemies. Tsuna was brought in as bait, to make the story more believable. Only Nono and his father were aware of this, not even Reborn. who was very incensed at the deception. For Tsuna, it broke the last remaining connection with Iemitsu, upon learning that this whole charade.

The only reason that he was not sealed again. or even outright killed, was because he unknowingly gathered a lot of allies, who would make quite a ruckus if anything happened to Tsuna. It included the Cavallone with Dino, most of the arcobaleno, surprisingly the Varia, even the Giglio Nero family with Aria and Uni.

He got back to Nanimori unable to decide how to react to what happened. On one hand, he was given an out from the mafia, on the other half he was cruelly used by his father and the Vongola.

To make matters worse, soon his guardians and friends scattered, each having their own life. Hibari simply went back to watch over Nanimori and bite to death any who disturb the peace. Rhoyei without missing a beat went back to his boxing. Mukoro, Chrome, and the Kokyou gang had disappeared, probably because Tsuna was no longer Decimo, they held no interest in him. Gokudera soon went back to Italy swearing that he will regain Juudaime's lost honor and make those traitors pay. Yamamoto to the surprise of all began to date Kyoko-chan and also took up baseball once again. Lambo, I-pin, and Fuuta remained with Mom, but Reborn left, off to his next assignment.

The boy who had nothing was offered the whole world, only to get it ripped away from him. After gaining friends and family, becoming once again friendless Dame-Tsuna was a bitter pill to swallow.

He needed to get away. Away from the memories, away from everything. His out was high school.

Tsuna's scores weren't very impressive even with Reborn's tutoring. He couldn't really get into any other school than Nanimori High. But luckily his mother found a brochure about a boarding school where he could attend even with his low scores. Soon enough Tsuna became a student of Youkai Academy.

If he wasn't so focused on leaving, he would remember. a similar brochure brought a certain hitman into his life all those years ago.

-0-

A very creepy bus driver and a school bus, empty save for the two of them. It was suspicious as hell. If Tsuna still had any common sense left, it would be screaming from all the reg flags raised. Thankfully soon another student boarded the Vehicle.

He was a typical, average Japanese teen. He had black hair and black eyes, wore the green blazer of their new school. He introduced himself as Aono Tsukune with a shy wave. In return, Tsuna just gave a guarded smile as he returned the greeting.

They rode in silence until they entered a dark, long tunnel with their new school on the other side. When they finally arrived at their destination Tsuna had to wonder if he unknowingly stepped into one of Mukoro's illusions.

The sky was red, to the left of them there was a cliff-hanging above the sea, marred with shard rocks. To their right there was a big graveyard with vultures circling above and in front of them was a creepy, dead forest and at the end of the path stood, a literal haunted house with lightning flashing in the background.

When the fright factor seemed to reach its maximum the bus driver laughed, his eyes beneath his cap glowing.

"He he he he. You boys do be careful. Youkai Academy is a very scary place."

The reaction was predictable. Both boys gave out a yelp of fright as the bus driver left them behind, laughing.

Eventually, both teens gathered their wits and began to walk toward the school for their entrance ceremony.

"Ah, I can't stop, make way!"

Looking back they saw a girl speeding towards them on a bicycle, unable to slow down. Tsuna acted without conscious thought, pushing aside Tsukune. Unfortunately, it still left him in the path of the uncontrolled vehicle.

"Ouch!"

After surviving the trainer from hell Reborn, a head-on collision with a speeding bicycle is not something to worry about. Tsuna gingerly raised a hand to his head, examining the relatively small wound. Satisfied with it only bleeding a little he started to get up but stopped when his hand instead of ground met something else. Flesh.

Looking up he came face to face with a beautiful girl.

She wore the girls' school uniform, green blazer, and suspiciously short skirt. She looked a little pale, with striking green eyes. Her long pink hair made her look angelic. She also had a rosary on a simple black choker on her neck. And apparently, his hand was resting on her tight.

Instantly red in the face Tsuna began to stammer out apologies, but the girl cut him off.

"I'm sorry. I suddenly felt lightheaded and couldn't stop in time."

Tsuna, feeling as if the curse of Dame-Tsuna followed him even here, began to reassure her when she gained a dazed look in her eyes. She slowly leaned toward Tsuna, lips slightly parted as if she was going to kiss him.

In his mind Tsuna began to panic, Poor boy couldn't prepare himself for getting his first-ever kiss from a girl, aside from his mom and that one time with Chrome. During his meltdown, his hyper intuition was trying to warn him, but without success.

"I'm sorry I can't help. myself."

With a sudden burst of speed, the strange girl dived down to his neck, biting him before he could even register what happened. Surprisingly, even though he flinched in instinct, the bite didn't hurt at all.

"Because I am a vampire."

Several years later, the loud shriek of 'Hiee!' that one Sawada Tsunayoshi released, would give birth to an urban myth. Many students would brave the now haunted forest, to search for the ghost of the poor first-year whose last cry could be heard for days.

-0-

"That was...weird."

"You're telling me. And I was supposed to be immune to these things after all this time."

Tsuna ignored Tsukune's questioning look as the two of them were walking to their classroom after the opening ceremony.

Tsuna gently rubbed his sore neck, finding no mark. It healed as quickly as the girl disappeared after the still shocking bloodsucking. Even though he saw his share of strange things, including grown man turned into infants. animals on fire, but the idea of a vampire was a new one.

Walking into the classroom Tsuna felt himself stiffen. The other students, already chatting in groups, felt wrong to the young mafioso. As if there was a mist illusion hiding their real self.

Tsukune not noticing anything strange went to take his seat. Tsuna followed claiming the seat behind him subtly trying to gather his dying will flames in case everything went to hell as usual. The flames that he was unable to call forth ever since the events of the Inheritance Ceremony.

'Well,' thought wryly as he looked around, taking special note of the bloodlust oozing from the guy to the right of him ' I'm not the student of the number one hitman for nothing.'

Soon their homeroom teacher, Ms. Nekonome arrived. She was a middle-aged woman with short blonde hair. When Tsuna focused on her really hard, he could use cat ears on the top of her head and a tail swinging behind her. It seemed to fit the apparent theme.

"Welcome to Youkai Academy. I don't have to tell you, but I will do it regardless. This academy is for Monsters."

The shock all but emits from Tsukune who can't comprehend the weight of these words. Even Tsuna, half-convinced that he was trapped in an illusion (really Mukoro? Again?), was also having a hard time making sense of what's going.

"The school's primary function is to teach you how to blend in and act in the human society without giving yourself away." continued the teacher before she was interrupted.

"Why should we hide? We should rip them apart and molest their women." came from the source of previously mentioned bloodlust. He was a tall, muscled boy, with his brown hair slicked back. A typical bad boy.

Nekonome-sensei furrowed her eyebrows, looking a little disappointed before she answered.

"Their population several times of our and thanks to their technology war between us would be disastrous. This school was founded on the principle of cooperation. Of course in this separate dimension where the school is there are no humans. If there were any, they would be killed."

'Well, at least that part is somewhat familiar.' though Tsuna sweating in nervousness. No matter how nonchalant he tries to act even to himself, this was not a good situation. He was in basically enemy territory, without allies and most of his weapons.

Tsukune was also feeling the weight of the situation, only he lacked the other's calm in outrageous situations thanks to his association with the mafia.

Before their sensei could continue the more and more alarming welcoming speech, the door opened revealing the sheepish form of the girl from the forest.

"I'm sorry, I got lost after the entrance exam."

As most of the class went starry-eyed at the slightly unnatural beauty of the girl, Tsuna massaged his neck, remembering the bite earlier in the morning.

The teacher smiled at her, inviting her into the classroom.

"It's no problem. You are Akashiya Moka, correct? Please, take your seat."

As she went to do just that, Moka caught sight of a wide-eyed Tsukune and Tsuna's best impersonation of a neutral Hibari glare. Blushing slightly she walked up to them with a big smile on her face.

"Tsuna-kun! Tsukune-kun! I'm so glad we are in the same class."

As expected the class was soon up in arms about how this new beauty knows the 'plain brown-haired guy' and the 'even more plain black haired guy'.

-0-

What followed for Tsuna and Tsukune after homeroom, was exploring the school, while being dragged by a surprisingly strong Moka. Despite her looks, she was at least as strong as Rhoyei. On the plus side, there were no shouts of extreme.

While they toured the school they encountered the class's would-be bully, Saizo. He tried to intimidate the two boys with differing success. Needless to say, it was a lost effort on Tsuna, who could look a rampaging Xanxus in the eye without flinching. At least outwardly.

Thanks to a quick escape provided by Moka the three found themselves in a quiet hallway with a vending machine. Tsukune was slumped next to a wall, Moka was drinking a tomato juice while Tsuna's choice was a green tea. After not speaking for a while, because even now he had difficulty speaking to the opposite sex, the former mafia boss spoke up.

"So you're a real vampire? Like one in the legends?"

"Yes, I am a vampire," answered Moka, lightly touching the rosary on her neck. It seemed to lit up faint purple to Tsuna who gave it a sharp glance. Strangely the accessory seemed to stare back. "My powers were sealed by this rosary. If it ever came off, my very scary vampire side would come out."

Tsukune looked like he still had a bit of a hard time comprehending the situation, none more than the cheerful vampire who befriended them. Tsuna only let out a thoughtful hum, his mind moving around the rosary. A little like the pacifiers without the whole 'the world's existence rests on it' part.

Engrossed in his thoughts he missed Moka's distaste for humans caused by isolation and only caught the end of them being her first friends. He finally began to pay attention when she turned towards him with a blush on her cheek.

"You are the first person whose blood I drank directly. It was my first time. It was delicious and yummy."

Tsuna could only smile back in nervousness, trying to find the so-called silver lining. Well. being seen as a food source was probably better than being seen as a body placed in high rank with enough power, ready to be possessed. Maybe. (Why, Mukoro? Why?)

Following their recess away from the crowds, the three young students continued to walk around the school grounds, ending the tour at the dormitory.

The rundown building reminded Tsuna of Kokyou Land, even so, he still felt a little uneasy about the thought of living the next 3 years there.

With a quick goodbye, the ever so cheerful vampire left for the girls' dormitory, leaving the two boys alone. A quick look at Tsukune confirmed the teen still looked like he got a death sentence. Trying to think of something to cheer up him, Tsuna came up with a blank. Most of the motivating speeches he received either started or ended with a kick to the head. He doubted it would help.

Well, he was always good at improvising.

"It'll be alright Aono-san."

The other boy looked back at him with questioning, but wary eyes. He began to walk into the building but turned towards the former mafia boss, who couldn't help but scratch his head in embarrassment.

"I mean, I'm a human too. This place looks a little scary, but it will work out, I'm sure. So let's survive, yeah?"

Instead of answering, Tsukune simply walked into the dormitory, leaving Tsuna out b himself. Seeing that his encouragement was unsuccessful, the boy's shoulders sagged. Well, he thought as he began to search for his room, at least there is no Reborn here to punish me because mafia bosses need to be able to encourage their subordinates.

Shivering slightly the brown-haired teen still looked around warily, half-expecting the baby-sized hitman to appear from out of nowhere.

Finding his room was fairly easy. Stepping into it, Tsuna was surprised at how minimalist it was. A small 4 and a half tatami room, containing only a futon, a desk to study with a chair, and a self.

It was more than enough for Tsuna who quickly packed away his belongings and got ready for bed in short order. As he laid down on his futon he thought about the day he had and whatever crazy situation he found himself in.

'New day, a new beginning. It couldn't be worse than the Mafia, right?' was his last thought before he fell asleep.

-0-

After a surprisingly calm sleep, Tsuna woke up and got ready for the day. He was ready to go, with a lot of time to spare, because he needed to make a detour. He planned to go to the principal's office, to found out what is going on. He was sure that it is no coincidence that he and Tsukune ended up at this school. A place surrounded by so many secrets, wouldn't make a mistake of letting attend not one but two human students. There was more going on, and his history involving the mafia showed that is not wise to ignore such things.

Tsuna stopped in his tracks as he began to leave his room, eyes fixed on a small box that he didn't pack away yesterday. It was a small, black case adorned with the Vongola emblem, so much like the case that carried the Vongola half-rings so long ago.

_Flashback_

_It was the day Reborn went back to Italy. Mama and the others were in the living room talking, while Reborn dragged Tsuna up to his room. A little annoyed at the hitman and still bitter about what happened to him, he tried to resist but of course, it was futile._

_Sitting on his bed, he tried not to look at Reborn, not wanting to admit that it hurts, the thought of him leaving. They sat there in silence before Tsuna had enough and had to ask._

_"What do you want Reborn?"_

_The hitman didn't answer immediately, instead stared at Tsuna as if searching for something, Leon perched on the top of his hat. In the end, he grabbed a case from somewhere and laid down before Tsuna opened, showing a few peculiar items._

_"Here, you will need it."_

_The brown-haired boy frowned as he looked at the case's contents. He recognized each of them, but couldn't understand why would Reborn give them to him. He turned his confused eyes to his former tutor._

_"Why would I need it? I'm no longer in the Mafia."_

_"Because you still can't ignite your dying will flames." Tsuna suddenly paled. He did his best to keep this fact secret, so how could Reborn find out about it? The hitman continued, seeing he had his attention. „Ever since what happened at the Inheritance Ceremony with…Iemitsu, you couldn't use your sky flames. In this situation the hyper dying will mode is not something you could enter into. And as much you would like to deny it, sooner or later the Mafia will try to take you back. So I will leave these with you just in case."_

_The young teen was silent, staring at the case, with an almost hollow look on his face. Deciding, he said his piece, Reborn got up and began to leave the room. He still paused in the doorway once again turning back to his former student._

_"You may not be Decimo, but you were still trained by me. If you make me look back, I will have to come back and give you a few reminders."_

_Flashback End_

Tsuna stared at the case for a few minutes, internally battling with himself, until he gave in and with a sigh, he grabbed its contents and took them into his bag. Finally ready, he went to get answers from the only one he could gain. The principal.

It took him half an hour of wandering from one person to another, to admit that his endeavor won't be successful at all. It seems as if the principal thrived on being mysterious. No one could tell him one solid thing about him, people only saw him when he wanted to see them. And he would rather stay clear of the Public Safety Commission if half the things he heard about that group was true. A little disheartened he simply went to the dorm to get his books and all, trying to ignore the feeling in the back of his head, that something is gonna happen.

When he gathered everything and decided to go to class he overheard the gossiping student body. Apparently, Saizo cornered Tsukune and threatened him to stay away from Moka. A little worried about the black-haired boy and also remembering what he suffered because of bullies, he went to search for the human boy.

He found him in the middle of arguing with the vampire Moka. The girl looked worried, maybe sacred while Tsukune was agitated, all of his belongings packed up. Tsuna reached them to hear the end of the argument.

"I'm a human! Through some kind of mistake I ended up being let into this school, but I'm different from you." shouted the boy, the words pouring as if a dam finally broke through.

"No there"s no way a human could be here…" came from a pale, frightened Moka. 'Seems like monsters fear humans as much as in reverse," thought a bemuse Tsuna.

"Moka, that look on your face was because you already realized I'm a human…" said Tsukune turning away from the young vampire. His body was trembling from the multitude of emotions rippling through him. Fear, anger, helplessness. „That's right, I shouldn't be here after all anyway."

Moka tried to stop him, grabbing his arm, but he pulled away from her.

"Let me go! You hate humans right? And excuse me for being friends with a monster!" he spat angrily, leaving behind the stunned girl.

Tsuna saw all this happening from the cover of the trees, unnoticed. He let out a sigh, seeing the young vampire gloomily walking away. He debated a little with himself, to get involved or not, but that damned good nature of his won out. Mentally grumbling to himself, he went after Moka.

He chose to walk leisurely, so when he finally caught up with Moka at the cemetery (and why is there a cemetery in a school, better question why go there?) it looked like he was not the only one who wanted to talk to Moka. Saizo, who was in the middle of revealing his monster form, probably had other ideas than talking to the frightened girl. Tsuna was having a hard time seeing the girl as a scary vampire. Monstrous show of strength from time to time not counted.

Getting closer, the former mafia boss in training looked at the form Saizo had taken, and he had to say he was not impressed. Green skin, hulking body with fangs and a long tongue. Tsuna was briefly reminded of those monsters used by Iris Hepburn when he went to the future to attack the Millefiore base.

Saizo grabbed Moka, Tsuna withheld a swore as he began to stealthily get behind the bully. Without his dying will flames, his choices were highly restricted. While he was stronger than the average human, seeing the body of his enemy he thought that would help him little. Unlike Ryohei or Hibari he didn't have inhuman strength outside of dying will state. Luckily Tsukune came back, drawing attention away from him.

"A mon-mon-monster!" shouted the black-haired boy who probably came to apologize.

"I believe I warned you not to come near Moka." growled Saizo, his grip tightening on the girl, causing the girl to let out a grunt in pain.

When Saizo swatted away Tsukune with his free hand, Tsuna abandoned all pretense of stealth. He quickly ran up to the monster and with a yell, he punched him in the face with all his might. He probably didn't cause too much damage, but the shock of the punch was enough for Saizo to release Moka and allowing Tsuna to pull her away.

"Tsuna-kun?" asked the vampire, feeling relieved.

A moment later the brown-haired boy was forgotten because Moka spied the groaning form of Tsukune who ended up crashing to a tombstone. She tried to run up to him, but Tsuna held her back, a furious Saizo soon stepping in the way, rubbing his jaw. He glowered at Tsuna, who was too busy trying to think of what to do.

"I'm sorry." cried the girl, tears falling, thrashing in Tsuna's arms."After all...Humans and monsters are very different, aren't they? Because I'm a vampire I suck the blood of humans and end up hurting them…The truth is I just felt like I wanted to make a friend even if at a human school." she continued crying, fixated on the still form of Tsukune. „But I guess it's impossible since I would surely be able to do nothing but hurt Tsukune as well."

She stopped when she felt the arms holding her tightening a little, a reassuring warmth coming from the boy next to her. Tsuna still eyes Saizo, but he had a gentle smile on his face, more genuine than any she saw from him yesterday.

"I know I'm not in a position to say anything since I'm just another human who has more than enough grievances against other humans, but it doesn't matter what you are. Only who you are. It's your actions that determine your life, not what you were born. I don't care that you are a vampire and the same goes for Tsukune, I care that you are my friend. So let's kick this guy's ass and go to class."

While Moka digested his words, Saizo runs out of patience, and with a yell, he ran towards the duo. Tsuna pushed Moka to the side, while he dodged in the opposite direction, avoiding the enormous fist that landed where they stood a moment before. In the middle of the battle, he didn't notice that when he pushed Moka he also grabbed the rosary and took it off, nor the vampire's widening eyes. Instead, from his school uniform, he pulled out a black gun. Seeing it, Saizo let out a derisive laugh.

"What's that? A human toy? What kind of monster are you, if you can't even fight? Go ahead, use your little toy, it can't harm me."

Ignoring the giant monster, Tsuna got down on one knee, aim steady. Instead of Saizo, he turned the weapon to a still not moving Tsukune.

"Oi, Tsukune. Here's a pretty girl crying and you decide now is the time to nap? If you are really her friend, then get up and do something with your dying will!"

as he shouted the last words, he aimed and fired a bullet straight into Tsukune's forehead. Saizo stood there dumbfounded like he couldn't decide what to do now and Moka let out a horrified gasp, not knowing what's going on anymore. All the while she felt her sealed side resurface now that the rosary is removed.

Before anyone could react something changed. Tsukune, who looked dead a second ago, suddenly was on his feet. Orange fire burst from his forehead where Tsuna shot him, his eyes pure white. His clothes inexplicably were destroyed save for a pair of green boxers. His gaze was locked on the big monster.

"Reborn!" roared Tsukune, fully slipped into Dying Will Mode. „Save Moka with my dying will!"

With that war cry, he charged Saizo, who couldn't react fast enough and was punched by strength several times stronger than normal humans. While they duked out, Tsuna was content to simply watch until he felt the eruption of ominous energy, and strangely enough dying will flames.

Looking up, he saw Akashiya Moka standing before him, looking down at him, but it was not the Moka he met yesterday. She had silver hair and alluring, red, slitted eyes. She had a more mature air around her than the pink-haired version. Also, judging by her uniform, this form was more…mature than the sealed form. But most importantly, she was dangerous. He felt like prey, frozen in the eyes of a predator.

This comparison reminded him of Hibari, and with the thought that he was able to stand the gaze of someone like him, Tsuna was able to force his legs to move. Standing up before Moka, noting that she was a little taller than him, he gave her a curious look.

"Soooo, that's the scary vampire side?" he asked lightly, trying to ignore his body's natural responses. The girl only raising an eyebrow at him."Meh, seen scarier."

"Is that so?" Moka asked back, amused. her voice was unlike anything he ever heard. It was like a trail of honey, leading you into a dark pit, full of predators ready to tear you apart…Mukoro certainly left him impressions. And traumas.

Tsuna shook his head, trying to get the images out of his head.

"How did you…you know…" Tsuna started to say, dumbly motioning for her body."Didn't you say that rosary sealed your powers or something?"

In response, Moka slowly shifted her stance, one hand placed on her hip, the other pointing to his left hand.

"It did. But you took it off."

She was right. In his hand rested her rosary, the center gem looking duller than when he saw it on Moka.

"Sorry." he handed it back with a sheepish laugh „But is this thing supposed to come off so easily?"

"No." came to the response, Moka suddenly looking serious, all amusement left her face. Her red eyes seemed to look into his whole being, studying him. „No one was able to take it off since I was sealed. Not my other, naive side, not my family, no one. You are the first."

Before anything more could be said, Saizo crashed no much further away from them, before getting up and continue duking out with Tsukune, reminding them that they were not alone.

Moka watched them for a few minutes, before once again turning to Tsuna.

"What did you do to him?" she asked eying the gun in the teen's hand.

His answer was an absentminded hum as he carefully put away the weapon.

"Trade secret."

Moka watched him with her piercing eyes, giving no reaction. After a few moments, feeling uncomfortable, Tsuna decided to elaborate.

"Let's just say, humans have their monsters," he said, giving the girl a bitter smile.

Moka looked intrigued, but it seemed she grow bored of the little fight next to them. With a sharp turn, she began to walk Saizo who managed to swat away Tsukune for the time being. That dark energy that Tsuna sensed was practically radiating from her body.

The green monster caught sight of the vampire and opened his mouth to say something, but never get the chance. With little effort Moka jumped up, putting herself above Saizo.

"KNOW YOUR PLACE!" she roared as she kicked the bully's face sending him crashing through the forest. He was still flying when Tsuna lost sight of him. Safe to say, he won't be back for a while.

Tsukune stood dumbly before them because he lost him, adversary. Finally, after the dying will flame on his forehead died out, and with a blink, a normal, a still little hurt and almost naked Tsukune was left behind. He stared in incomprehension at Moka, but before his brain could work and remind him that he stood there in nothing but a boxer, a vest was thrown to his face.

"Great fight." praised Tsuna, snickering to himself as he walked up to them, missing his vest. „But really? Stripping? I'm not one to criticize you, but it's a little weird. Well, at least you not confessed your love in a boxer, or anything stalkerish like that, so good job."

As the poor boy tried to say something, completely bewildered and tried to cover himself up, Moka simply rolled her eyes. She gave Tsukune a look, momentarily surprised he showed no fear, only confusion. After a few seconds, she decided to ignore him and walked up to Tsuna, once again eying him as if she was contemplating whether to eat him or not. Or drink in her case.

The former mafioso remained relaxed, his fabled Vongola intuition telling him, he had nothing to fear from her.

"You intrigue me," she said, at last, words carefully measured. „As your blood is very delicious for my sleeping self, I will let it go for now. But I will have my answers. Until we meet again," she placed the rosary back to its place, her power slowly disappearing. „you better babysit the other, sentimental Moka."

With that, she was back to the relatively more normal-looking, pink-haired, who fell into hir arms, sleeping. Tsukune saw, the shorter, weak-looking teen easily gather her up in bridal style, he couldn't help but ask.

"What…happened?"

"It's a long story. But first, we should get you some clothes, if you don't want to be remembered as that naked guy!" answered Tsuna with a light laugh, beginning to walk in the direction of the dormitories. Tsukune ran after them, trying to catch up.

-0-

The next day, after Tsukune decided to remain in the school, the three friends began to walk to class. Moka walked in between the boys, cheerfully talking about anything that came to mind. Tsuna looked more distant than yesterday, deep in thought, while Tsukune tried to accept what he heard about Moka's other personality.

They suddenly stopped when they heard the growl of a stomach. The two boys looked around trying to find the source of the sound, while Moka blushed prettily. Embrassedly, she turned to Tsuna.

"Tsuna-kun?" the brunette simply turned to her, tilting his head questioningly. „Can I have some of your blood."

Tsukune looked as if he choked on something while he blinked lazily at her. After her a few moments, her cute factor won out.

"Sure, but don't drink too much"

As the girl latched onto his neck with a happy squeal, the former mafioso decided to blame Reborn and Mukoro for his total lack of survival senses.

While they slowly walked, he thought of Vongola, his guardians, Reborn. For the first time in a long while, he tried to keep down the resentment, the anger, and the hurt he felt towards them. 'That time of my life is over' he thought, thinking of his new companions, 'Time for a new beginning.'

This is the start of a new adventure.


	2. Succubus hiding in the mist

'The other day I definitely felt dying will flames or something close to it. What does it mean, I wonder?'

Sawada Tsuna was deep in thought as he jogged around the creepy forest next to the academy. It was already a week into the school year and thankfully there were no supernatural incidents aside from that one with Saizo. It seemed that while students heard about the brute's loss, there were so many versions of it around, no one had a clear picture of what happened. Tsuna was completely fine with that.

Other than a few instances of students and Nekonome-sensei failing to stay in their human form, everything was perfectly normal. The classes were the same as back in Namimori. And while Tsukune still freaked out at random things, Tsuna became completely used to it. (Deep inside in a dark corner of his mind Tsuna wept.)

Without a conscious decision, he began to jog every morning to stay in shape. Tsuna also planned to work out in the afternoon, but decided to properly acclimatize to this school for monsters first.

"Help. I feel so weak" a voice cried out, bringing Tsuna back to reality.

In front of him, at the side of the road was a female student bracing herself next to a tree, trying to stand up. She had shoulder-length cyan colored hair and Tsuna recalled seeing her in his class, but was unable to recall a name. His inherently good nature took control before he could stop himself to assess the situation and went closer to the girl.

"Are you alright? What happened?" Tsuna asked as he stopped next to her, offering a hand to help her stand.

"Thank you, my chest began to hurt suddenly," she exclaimed turning towards him.

Ignoring his hand, she practically leaped at Tsuna, putting all of her weight on the unsuspecting boy. He took a step back, trying not to topple backward as he looked questioningly at her. She simply stared deeply into his eyes, as he looked at the purple irises a strange feeling began to overcame and -

With a harsh cry, the girl collided with a tree, landing in a heap. She looked up accusingly, but words were stuck in her mouth. Standing before her Tsuna stared at her with harsh eyes, body tensing as he prepared to fight. He took a few more steps back, wanting to get as much distance as he safely could in case she tried anything.

"I don't take kindly to illusions," he growled.

He may be near powerless without his dying will, but that doesn't mean he was helpless. He used Moka in the past week to learn more about various monsters. From what the girl told him most monsters tend to specialize in one field. It meant that against an illusionist there wasn't a large chance of physical attacks. Thanks to his Vongola Hyper Intuition he could hold his own against the girl if it comes to it. Hopefully.

The girl only let out a shocked gasp as she stared down the plain-looking boy who suddenly looked fierce and dangerous. After a few seconds while she made no other move Tsuna slightly relaxed his body.

"Play your tricks at someone else," he said at last and began to leave. All the while he still kept an eye on the girl, who gave no visible reaction.

Tsuna let out a suffering sigh as he exited the forest. So much for a peaceful day.

-0-

Tsuna went back to the dorms to shower and change. After he was ready he went down to meet Moka and Tsukune, the three of them usually walked together to class.

Though from the looks of it, today would be different. The former mafia boss just reached the duo in time to see Tsukune march away angrily. Which, thinking about it, he seemed to do a lot.

"I'm not your food!" he exclaimed, leaving Moka with Tsuna and the nearby students who looked over curiously.

Tsuna held back a sigh, the idea of turning back and going to sleep became more and more tempting. All he asked for was a simple day, but of course not.

He looked over to the girl who wore a crestfallen expression on her face and cursed Tsukune under his breath. It was too early for this.

"You know," he began, attracting Moka's attention " for a guy who is supposed to lay low and not draw attention, Tsukune always ends up in the middle of something."

Moka turned towards him, eyes conveying the uncertainty she certainly felt. She soon covered it with a bright smile, almost blinding Tsuna with its brightness.

"Good morning, Tsuna-kun." greeted the girl enthusiastically.

"Ah, good morning." answered a little disoriented Tsuna. He wasn't sure how but he saw sparkles in the background. He shook his head, trying to clear it. "I wouldn't worry about Tsukune, though. This whole 'monsters are real' deal is still new to him. Give him time to feel at ease."

Moka gave a grateful smile to him and they began to walk toward the school. They remained in comfortable silence until Moka suddenly stopped in front of the school building. Her face took on a red hue and she absently began to play with her hair.

" Um, Tsuna-kun, Can I... I mean.." the girl trailed off uncertainly, but the boy understood what she wanted.

Withholding a sigh at the thought of how absurd his life has become, Tsuna led Moka a little to the side so they wouldn't block the way of other students and subtly offered his neck.

"Go ahead," he said, earning a cheer from the pink-haired girl. "But please don't drink too much, I would avoid another fainting episode if I could."

With permission given, Moka began to carefully drink his blood. While the school provided blood for the vampire girl, Moka drank from him as much she could get away. According to her, his blood was much tastier and warmer than the blood bags she was given. She could also sustain herself for a short while with tomato juice if it comes to it.

A few days ago the girl got carried away, because of that, Tsuna spent that whole day in the infirmary thanks to blood loss. After that, he threatened her that if she didn't show restraint, she wouldn't get any more blood from him. Surprisingly the threat of withholding his blood worked.

A few seconds passed before Moka released him, licking away the last drops of blood without conscious thought. Tsuna desperately tried to not acknowledge how intimate the whole scene looked from the outside. It worked with very little success.

"Your blood is delicious as always, thank you Tsuna-kun." Moka gave him a cute smile, unintentionally flustering the former mafia boss.

"Let's just go to class."

-0-

Turns out Math in a monster school is just as much a headache-inducing nightmare for Tsuna as it was back in Nanimori. And that's not even mentioning the teacher who was acting like some kind of dominatrix.

As the class slowly began to disperse, he held his head down, trying to avoid the teacher's gaze who was already spouting about 'tutoring' to those who struggled in class. It was creeping out his intuition.

From the corner of his eyes, the brown-haired boy saw Tsukune leave the classroom in a hurry. It could be because of their teacher or the little disagreement he had with Moka earlier, but Tsuna did not agree with that. Tsukune was a guy who wore his heart on his sleeve and not one to hold a grudge (he used to be like that too). He should have already approached Moka to apologize, yet he didn't.

Something was off with the only other human on the campus. He arrived in class after everyone else, which was strange that he took off before Moka and Tsuna. His whole mannerisms also seemed just a little wrong to him.

Tsuna also caught sight of the pink-haired vampire walking after Tsukune, probably wanting to set things right with him. He had to withhold a sigh at all the drama that was going on here, as he slowly trailed after Moka. It was clear that Tsukune had some sort of crush on the girl, but unless he read her wrong Moka was simply overly affectionate with her friend, probably caused by a lonely childhood.

The sad fact was that he was not sure if he preferred this teenage soap opera to the various shenanigans of the mafia.

Falling into step with Moka, they soon found Tsukune. Curiously he and a bunch of other male students were gathered around the same blue-haired girl that Tsuna met earlier in the morning. 'Well, at least this probably exclaims why Tsukune felt off.' though Tsuna 'looks like this school's version of Mukoro showed herself .'

He was broken from his wanderings when the girl caught sight of them. She left her admirers behind as she confidently stepped in front of Moka.

"You are Akashiya Moka, right? Rumor says that you are a vampire." She went on, not letting the surprised vampire answer. "I'm Kurono Kurumu, a Succubus." said the girl with obvious pride.

"Isn't it against school rules to reveal what you are?" Moka tried diplomatically but was ignored.

"I won't let you get in the way of my plan." stated Kurumo, pointing an accusing finger at Moka."At the start of the year, I should have been the number one idol of the school. Yet all the boys are dreaming about is you. This is unacceptable!"

The two of them stared at the succubus totally clueless, earning an angry pout from her. Getting fed up with their complete lack of reaction she decided to elaborate.

"I plan to make every male in the school my slave with my charm. The youkai academy harem transformation plan." At the end of her speech, Kurumo made a seductive pose, causing many nearby students to pass out in nosebleed. "I have to come to defeat you by stealing away Aono Tsukune from you and showing everyone I am better than you."

Moka stared at her, completely at loss for words. She had no idea where this apparent rivalry came from, but she didn't like anyone using her friends. Meanwhile, Tsuna's only fleeting thought was that at least this once it wasn't about world domination.

Their attention was pulled away when Tsukune walked closer to them, looking very confused.

"Moka-san" he began but was cut off when Kurumo embraced him, smothering his red face into her cleavage.

"Oh Tsukune, thank you for helping me earlier. I don't know what would have happened to me without you." she gushed, trying to annoy the vampire.

Said vampire sent her the nastiest glare she could give, which considering the generally sunny disposition of the girl was surprisingly scary. When she failed to intimidate Kurumo, she tried to warn Tsukune.

" Tsukune! She's tricking you. Hurry up and get that girl off you. Kurumu isn't your friend."

The boy tried to speak, but Kurumu decided to up her acting performance. She seemed to lose the power in her legs, hanging unto Tsukune with a death grip. All the while she 'cried' in sadness.

"How awful. How can you say it to me? I feel so dizzy, we have got to go to the infirmary."

While some, mostly the unaware peanut gallery, bought the act, Tsuna wasn't impressed. He would rate her acting closer to Haru's acting than any actual semblance of skill.

Unfortunately, the kind boy made the mistake of looking into the succubus' eyes. From where he stood Tsuna was able to see as Tsukune fell under the spell, his eyes glazing over. 'More like hypnosis than the body stealing Mukuro favored.' concluded the former mafia boss 'Unnatural, robotic movements and small twitches of the body showing slight resistance.'

Moka didn't notice any of that, instead, she continued to warm Tsukune in vain.

"Please, believe in me. That girl is dangerous, she is trying to use you."

Tsukune turned towards her at last, but he was fully under the succubus' spell.

"Aren't you the one who wants to eat me, Moka-san?" he said in a robotic, dead voice.

The vampire reeled back as if she was struck, tears gathering in her eyes. She tried to hold it back, but with a soft cry she turned around and stormed off, leaving behind a confused Tsukune. Kurumu began to smile in victory when she the narrowed glare that Tsuna was sending her, causing the succubus to shudder in slight fear and hide behind her hypnotized fanboys.

With a grunt the brown-haired teen simply left them, calmly walking in the direction Moka ran.

-0-

Tsuna found Moka sitting outside, on the stairs in front of the school's entrance. She was looking down on the ground in obvious depression. The girl reminded him of Chrome at times, who despite sharing her body with Mukuro usually couldn't hurt a fly. Tsuna was about to walk up to her, reassure that Tsukune is still her friend when his body froze.

Didn't his friends, his family choose to leave him when he needed them the most? For Tsuna, it was not his father's betrayal or losing the position of Decimo that truly hurt him. It was his friends. They went through so much, yet when he called out for them to help, they didn't come. He suddenly became nobody once again. Helpless, friendless Dame-Tsuna.

After all of this, how can he be so sure that Tsukune is his friend? Or Moka for that matter? He knew them for only a week. They wouldn't even be so close if not for Moka's personality and insistence to do everything together. Why should he care what happens? In the end, they would simply leave him, like all the others.

While Tsuna fought with his existential crisis, Moka had an interesting conversation with her rosary. By the time the boy emerged from his thoughts the vampire stood up, with a rekindled fire in her eyes.

"Let's save Tsukune, Tsuna-kun!" she declared, her previous sadness left behind.

"What-?" that was all he could get out before Moka grabbed his arm and with her strength began to pull the boy after her.

He could have resisted. He could have told her that they are not friends and leave him alone. But he couldn't. Maybe deep down there was still a lonely kid, who wanted to be not alone. Maybe the mafia didn't manage to harden him as much as he tried to show. Maybe he is still number one on Futa's list of unable to refuse a request. No matter the reason, Tsuna let himself be dragged, trying to keep up with the anxious vampire.

-0-

The two of them found Tsukune at the infirmary along with Kurumu. The girl was embracing him, or to be precise, she was pressing his face into her cleavage. Because of the scene they found or because of her indignation Moka's face was beat red as she began to march towards them.

Tsuna had lashed out, grabbing her wrist, silently telling her to stay put. Maybe because of his past experiences, but he needed to see the true personality Tsukune possessed. To see if he can break the illusion, if he has the willpower to fight, before letting Moka help him, or get involved himself. Whatever showed on his face was enough for the vampire, a little begrudgingly decided to wait.

"Ku-Kurumu-san." at the dazed voice of Tsukune, both of them snapped their heads toward him, seeing the succubus about to kiss him.

Alarm showed on the pink-haired girl's face, and Tsuna also grimaced as he subtly pulled out a gun. He did not have much experience with the supernatural yet, but when a deceptively beautiful monster girl abruptly wanted to kiss you, it did not take a genius to see, it wouldn't end well.

Both of them were ready to intervene when the unpredictable happened. The up until now pretty motionless Tsukune leaned forward, not to kiss Kurumu, but to embrace her, successfully avoiding the kiss. Moka and Tsuna watched on confused, allowing things to play out.

"I'm sorry, I can't." said Tsukune to the shocked girl."There is someone I don't want to betray"

"It can't be…why?" murmured the succubus, pushing away the black-haired boy."Is she so much better than me?" she cried out, enraged.

She slowly began to change. Now that he looked for it, Tsuna was able to feel it. Just like when Moka transformed last time, energy very similar to the dying will flame could be felt from the monster let go of her human form, though the amount was nowhere near to what he felt from the vampire.

Kuruno Kurumu slowly changed before their eyes. Her ears grow sharper, resembling the ears of an elf, two bat wings emerged from her back, along with a long black tail. Her nails also grew, becoming deadly looking weapons. With a swap of her wings, Kurumu left the ground, hovering before a scare Tsukune.

"I'm going to destroy everyone that has anything to do with her," she yelled and began to charge toward the boy, claws pointed to strike.

"Stop it!" cried Moka as she ran into the room. With a grunt she collided with the surprised succubus, her supernatural strength sending the cyan-haired girl flying off in a conveniently open window. Moka, on the other hand, was caught by Tsuna, the deceptively strong boy able to catch her without much struggle.

"Moka-san? Tsuna-san? What's going on?" asked Tsukune completely bewildered.

"You know, just saving you from getting your brain sucked out or something like that," replied Tsuna nonchalantly, helping Moka find her footing. The vampire ignores his witty comeback and looked at the black-haired boy in apology.

"I'm sorry you got wrapped in this, Tsukune. This girl is a succubus. It seems she wants revenge on me and to get it, she targeted you." she told him, before turning towards the window. "Run while there's still time, you two."

With that she went to the window, preparing to jump out. Tsuna was about to call out to her, because vampire or not, he knew from experience that jumping out of the second floor is not pleasant when he caught sight of the object in his left hand. It was a very familiar rosary.

"What is that?" asked Tsukune, who also noticed the rosary in the former mafia boss' hand.

Just as he was about to answer, two things happened in quick succession. Kurumu came back flying, stopping before the window with an enraged expression on her face. At the same time, Moka's body released a wave of energy, while she slowly changed. Her hair became a beautiful silver, her eyes changed to slitted red irises, and her body for the lack of a better term filled out.

Tsuna watched on with narrowed eyes as he once again sensed dying will flames among whatever energy the monsters tended to release. While Kurumu's felt like the ever-elusive mist, Moka's was the drifting cloud, that cannot be bound. If he wasn't mistaken, the sheer intensity of her dying will rival that of Hibari's.

"No way! What a powerful looking swirl of supernatural energy." yelled out a shocked Kurumu, desperately trying not to be blown away by the mere winds of Moka's energy.

As her transformation slowly finished Tsuna couldn't help but comment.

"You know, for a supposed seal which no one before was able to unlock, this thing comes off way too easily," he said with a grin, completely dismissing the succubus as a threat.

The released side of Moka only gave him a fiery glare at his smart-ass comment, before she turned her bored gaze towards Kurumu. Meanwhile, Tsukune looked at the scene in front of him in confusion.

"Is that really Moka-san?" he needed to ask. While last time he saw her for a moment, that whole incident was too strange for him, to believe everything that happened, really happened.

"Yes, or at least the vampire side of her. She is a different personality compared to her sealed self," explained Tsuna.

Their conversation was cut short when Kurumu made her presence known.

"Don't mess around me, there is no way I could lose!" she cried out in false bravado. It was clear to Tsuna, the difference in their strength and he was sure she knew it as well but was too prideful to back down. "Us succubi seek a destined encounter among the men we tempt. In order to keep our small species from dying out, we must carefully pick one man out of many to be our destined one."

With a strong flap of her wings, Kurumu began to charge Moka, nails readied to pierce the vampire, who simply stood in the window, without any outward reaction.

"You got in the way of that, Akashiya Moka! I can't let you get away with this, no matter what," she yelled before she reached Moka and slashed with her lengthened nails.

Unfortunately for her, the silver-haired woman caught her wrist lazily, stopping her altogether. She stared at the shocked succubus with a mocking smirk on her face.

"So what are you going to do?" she asked as Kurumu uselessly thrashed around, trying to escape her grip. "You can't let me do this, so you bear your fangs against me? Frail, egoistical woman." her eyes suddenly sharpened, the energy once again began pouring out of her."Know your place!" with that she hurled out Kurumu out the window, the succubus creating a huge crater on the ground when she landed.

'Brutal' thought Tsuna as he saw Moka jump out of the window, not letting her opponent escape. Based on the pained cries from Kurumu, the vampire was not in a very merciful mood.

"Come on, slowpoke. Better hurry down," he told Tsukune, causing the boy to blink at him bewildered before with a mute nod began to run after him.

As they ran towards the entrance of the school building, Tsuna absentmindedly mused on the quirks of users of cloud flame. Maybe it was the company he had, but he began to see a trend. Hibari always told his enemy that he would bite them to death, from Reborn he also knew that the first generation cloud guardian Alaude had a similar phrase. Moka seemed to follow this tendency with her telling her opponents to know their place.

His musings were cut short when the two humans stepped out of the building, just in time to see Kurumu brutally slammed into a tree. As the girl groaned in pain, it was revealed that Moka was holding her long tail, using her as some kind of ragdoll. Tsuna had to hide a wince when she picked up Kurumu and slammed her into the ground again, the succubus unable to defend herself in any form.

"That's too much. Shouldn't we stop this?" asked Tsukune fearfully, as he never saw this side of Moka. Tsuna only glanced briefly at the black-haired teen, before returning his gaze to the ongoing battle.

"Did you forget that this girl hypnotized you? Tried to use you against Moka? She is the enemy, plain and simple. She was the one who attacked us, she should suffer the consequences." stated Tsuna coldly, but deep down he also felt uneasy. But the Mafia taught him not to show weakness.

"I know that, but Moka won. Kurumu can't fight anymore." cried out Tsukune, flinching when a cry came from Kurumu, the vampire continuing her vicious beating.

"Than you are a fool." Tsuna said back, causing Tsukune to look at him in disbelief. "Spare an enemy, without making sure they can't fight back and the first chance they get, they betray you. In case you forgot her hypnosis is useless against me and Moka, but you on the other hand? Do you want to attack me or even Moka as one of her puppets?"

Tsukune couldn't say anything in defense. He gritted his teeth, clenched his fist as he tried to ignore the pained cries coming from the girl who used him.

"I know all of that. Even so…I can't let her do this!" he stated with determination. Tsuna helped him or not, he just couldn't sit still and let this continue. He would stop Moka alone if he had to.

"The same kind of fool, that I was, huh?" murmured Tsuna so softly, nobody heard him. Back then he was the very same. He forgave and helped a lot of his enemies, trusting them to do the right thing. He may have had his intuition to help him, but still, he was called a fool to show mercy. Yet he still did, except for the rare exceptions. Unconsciously, his grip on his gun tightened.

"I believe deep down, Kurumu-san is not a bad person. Neither is Moka-san. Because of that, I will stop them." yelled out Tsukune his resolution as he began to walk towards the fighting girls. But Tsuna's voice stopped him.

"Are you ready to take the leap?" the black-haired boy looked back, the other human smirking at him with a dangerous look in his eyes. "There is no backing down after this, you know. You are about to step into a world of darkness and you must stick to your decision." seeing the resolute look in his eyes, Tsuna's smirk widened. "Then let me give you one last piece of advice. Never falter, keep going forward. Gather your resolution, let your will guide you" at that he suddenly pressed his gun to a shocked Tsukune's forehead. "and die!" with that Tsuna pressed the trigger.

As Tsukune's lifeless body dropped to the ground, the former mafioso debated with himself if he was doing the right thing. While the last time could be explained as some kind of hallucination on the black-haired teen's part, this time there is no escape. He had to involve him with the mafia, the omerta must be upheld. When the dying will flame appeared on Tsukune's forehead and he stood up, Tsuna shrugged to himself. He was always one to follow his gut rather than his mind, this time would be no different.

-0-

Kurumu once again landed on the ground with a painful thud. She stopped fighting a while ago, instead, she tried to get away from that monster, without success. Tears gathered in her eyes as she looked at the dark figure slowly walking towards her. Moka never lost that mocking grin of hers the entire fight, but now she looked bored.

"Naive little girl." Kurumu desperately tried to get out of the crater, but her body refused to move as the vampire stepped closer. "I'll make it so you can never stand up to me." But before she could reach her a figure dropped in between them.

It was Tsukune, who fully entered the dying will state. His clothes save for his underwear were missing, and an orange fire was lit on his forehead. He faced Moka with an enraged expression, crutching protectively in front of Kurumu.

"I'll protect Kurumu with my dying will!" he roared out in challenge. Kurumu dazedly uttered his name before unconsciousness claimed her at last.

Moka seeing this tsked in annoyance. She turned the full force of her glare against Tsukune who stood before her defiantly.

"You dare to stand against me, Aono Tsukune?" she asked, but her answer was just a simple roar from the dying will user. "So be it. Know your place, fool!" with that she charged Tsukune.

Tsukune likewise ran towards her, fist raised for a punch without any strategy. Moka simply planned to catch that weak excuse of a punch, before giving the human who dared to stand before her the beating of his life. But before they reached each other, three shots rang out.

Moka widened her eyes as she saw three bullets hit Tsukune in the shoulder, elbow, and forearm in quick succession. This caused his whole left arm to be suddenly enlarged. Feeling cautious after seeing the strange transformation, the vampire decided to dodge the punch instead by jumping back.

Her eyes widened, even more, when the punch landed on the ground with a force she was sure that the human body was unable to produce. Where Tsukune punched the ground a large crater was created with a web of cracks further breaking up the ground. Tsukune stood back up, finding it a little difficult to stand straight with his large left arm.

"What's the meaning of this, Sawada Tsunayoshi?" hissed out the silver-haired girl looking to the side. Tsuna stood not far from them, his gun lowered but still slightly smoking after his last shot. He shot a small grin at her.

"Isn't this enough? You had your fun, she knows you are not one to anger. After that beatdown, I doubt she would be brave enough to stay in the same room as you, let alone try to oppose you. So why don't we call it a day?" he stepped closer to her, showing her the rosary. "If you went further, it would force unneeded attention in mine and Tsukune's way. Call it self-preservation." he finally reached her, holding up the rosary for her to take.

"Hmph, "Moka grunted as she took the rosary out of his hand, stepping very close to the boy. She did not miss the slight sweat on his brow even as he tried to look unaffected by her."Guess your blood is good enough to keep you around. But mark my words." with that she leaned towards his ear, enjoying his discomfort. "One day, I will force you to show me your full power. That's a promise." with that she placed back the rosary to its place, once again sealing her power and her dominant personality away.

Sneaking an arm around her waist, Tsuna held the now pink-haired vampire while she slowly fell asleep on him. As he steadied her, from the corner of his eyes caught the sight of Tsukune, still standing protectively before Kurumu returning to normal as the dying will flame died on his forehead. He looked around dumbfounded, first noting that the fight seemed to have ended and second the state of his undress. With a yelp, Tsukune tried to cover himself, blushing like a maiden, before looking at Tsuna, full of questions.

"Please be a little patient Tsukune." interrupted the brown-haired teen while slowly positioned Moka's body to carry her in bridal style. "First, would you get Kurumu into the infirmary? She doesn't look too good. Then come to my room, hopefully, Moka would be up by then, so I only need to explain things once." with that he began to walk away, leaving the strangely deserted clearing.

Tsukune looked after them, trying to understand what happened when he remembered a piece of very crucial information.

"What happened to my clothes?"

-0-

"Here you go."

"Thank you, Tsuna-kun."

Moka accepted the cup of green tea with a smile as the teen sat down next to her. Right now, she, Tsuna, and Tsukune were in Tsuna's room in the dormitory. They sat around the only table in the boy's room, with Tsuna and Tsukune sitting in front of each other and Moka between them. All of them had a cup of steaming green tea before them. Tsuna visibly shuddered when he recalled that he was taught that a mafia boss should always be ready to offer sufficient hospitality to his guests.

They sat in silence for a few moments before Tsukune had enough.

"Tsuna-san, just before with Kurumu and a week ago with Saizo what happened to me? What did you do?" exclaimed the black-haired boy, his patience almost non-existent at this point.

In answer, the other human in the room calmly finished his drink before he pulled out a bullet from his pocket and put it on the table. The bullet was completely ordinary save for the symbol of a small fire on the casing. The other two leaned forward in curiosity.

"It's called the dying will bullet," explained Tsuna in response to their questioning looks.

"Dying will?" Tsukune felt as if he heard that phrase, but he wasn't sure.

The former mafia boss closed his eyes in thought, trying to think of a simple way of explaining.

"Just like there is a hidden society of monsters, there exists another in the human world. And no," he cut off Tsukune who opened his mouth to ask." I'm not going to tell anything about them. I'm breaking enough rules by simply hinting at their existence. In short, these bullets are one of their secrets. When you are shot with this bullet and die, if you have a big enough regret in you, something you wanted to do before you died, it would revive you to accomplish that goal. The Dying Will Bullet turns all of the internal person's safety switches off and in exchange for risking their life, they are able to harness great strength. From what I saw, you can even stand against some monsters, though" he gave a side glance to Moka, the girl so focused on his explanation that she didn't notice." it would be useless against stronger opponents."

The other two taken the information in quietly, before Tsukune asked a very relevant question.

„But what happened to my clothes?"

In response, Tsuna only shrugged his shoulder.

"Who knows." At that, the black-haired boy couldn't help but faceplant comically into the ground.

"Does that mean you will use these to help out if something happens?" asked Tsukune after regaining his wits.

"I could, but I won't." came the answer, the other boy's face unusually cold. "For one thing, it could generate too much attention which I don't need and frankly, I simply don't feel like doing it." the two gaped at the heartless response before the three descended into silence.

After that Moka and Tsukune asked a few more questions while Tsuna proceeded to ignore said questions. As evening neared, all of them went to their rooms, thinking about what they learned that day.

-0-

"Good morning!" greeted a cheerful voice.

Tsuna and Moka wore the same deadpan expression as they witnessed Kurunu trying to suffocate Tsukune using her chest. It was the morning after their confrontation with the Succubus. The trio once again began to the school building after Moka drank her daily intake of blood provided by Tsuna. But on their way, they encountered a familiar face.

Even the usually vigilant Tsuna was caught off guard when Kuruno Kurunu appeared out of nowhere and assaulted Tsukune by stuffing the black-haired boy's face into her generous bosom. She seemed to up well enough, there was no trace of the injuries she suffered the day before. But strangely enough, the former mafia felt that she was no longer an enemy.

"I don't know whether to laugh or cry," he said at last after watching Tsukune flail around for about a minute.

That seemed to pull Moka out of her shock. With red cheeks she dragged Kurumu off of Tsukune, granting the boy a much-needed gulp of air. Then she turned to the surprisingly docile succubus.

"What are you doing here?" she asked Kurumu. The girl in response simply stood up, dusting off her clothes.

"Remember when I said I was searching for my life's one and only destined one." she started to say, while a blush overtook her features. Moka and Tsukune gave a nod at that, though for the latter the memory was quite hazy."I've decided…It's Tsukune."

'Talk about a turnaround. 'thought Tsuna as he couldn't help but let out a small laugh. Tsukune on the other hand dumbly pointed at himself in complete disbelief.

Kurumu began to act more like a shy maiden. She couldn't properly meet the gaze of her new affection, instead, she tried to hide her blushing face.

"Oh Tsukune, you risked your life to protect me and I had fallen in love with you." At that, she finally looked at the shocked teen in the eye and said."Let's get married!"

Tsukune, probably guided by a deeply buried instinct of man, proceeded to run away from that out of nowhere confession, with Kurumu at his heels declaring her love. The students who witnessed all of this looked on with jealousy especially when Moka joined the chase wanting to help her friend. On the other hand, Tsuna calmly walked after them, hands in his pockets, and carelessly whistling a tune.

'Normal is overrated. Insanity like that is more what I'm used to.' were the thoughts of the former mafia boss, a small smile on his face. A part of him believing, hoping that this time will be different. That he won't be abandoned by those he calls friends.


	3. Let's survive the after-school clubs

"It's...it's really alright? Tsukune?" asked a shyly blushing Moka. She was nervously toying with her hair, eying the boy in front of her with want.

"Ye-Yeah." stuttered out a red as tomato Tsukune. He was sweating like there was no tomorrow but was able to steel himself and began to lean closer to Moka.

"I'm so happy. This is my first time too..." murmured the pink-haired girl as she also leaned closer in an almost hypnotizing manner.

Eying the lush, pink lips practically beckoning him, Tsukune couldn't help but rejoice at the fact he is about to get his first kiss. And from such a cute girl as Moka. They were close enough that he could feel her hot breath on his skin and he closed his eyes awaiting the kiss...only to swallow a mouthful of smoke she blew at him.

-0-

*cough* *cough*

Coughing heavily, Tsukune sat up, eyes and throat burning from the smoke around him. It was so thick, he couldn't see anything around him.

"Oh? You're awake." came from a voice to his left.

With tears in his eyes, Tsukune tried to look at who spoke and involuntarily let out a shriek so loud that even the dead awoke in a two-mile radius. Stepping out of the cloud of smoke was a figure looking as if he was left here after World War Two. Wearing the uniform of the American army, complete with a helmet, a gas mask, and a very real looking machine gun. Desperate to get away, the boy tried to crawl back but soon found himself next to a wall.

"It was a little stronger than I anticipated if I'm honest." commented the soldier airily, ignoring the teen. He stepped next to him and opened a window, letting the smoke out gradually.

As the room he was in slowly came into view, the human boy was shocked to recognize his dorm room. Looking down confirmed, he was on his futon, where he fell asleep. This made the presence of the stranger and the gas all the more troubling.

"Who are you?" asked Tsukune, internally face-palming at turning the armed man's attention to him.

The man turned to him, pointing the gun at the panicking teen. The blank lenses of the gas mask made the soldier appear even more intimidating. Thankfully when the last of the smoke left, but Tsukune's throat and eyes were still burning, the man bolstered the weapon to his shoulder and began to take off his mask and helmet. As the helmet came off the black-haired boy was shocked to find very familiar spiky brown hair.

"Tsuna-san?" Tsukune could gawk as he recognized his enigmatic classmate."What's going on? What was that?"

The other teen gave him a look like he just asked a very idiotic question.

"It was tear gas." he told him with a straight face as if it was completely obvious.

If Tsukune was in an anime he would have hilariously faceplanted hearing that. Of course, it was not obvious. Who in their right mind would wake up surrounded by smoke that burned his eyes and calmly stated 'Oh it' s just a little tear gas nothing to worry about.'?

"How did you have tear gas? And what's with that getup?" he asked in the end.

For his questions, he got another look that told him Tsuna felt he was especially slow.

"We are in a dormitory. In a place where we are cut off from most of civilization. We are in a male dormitory. If you know the right people and able to pay the price for it you could have virtually anything in a few minutes." he looked out the window, completely disregarding the black-haired teen."Anyway, I came to wake you up. We are almost late for school. Moka is waiting for us downstairs. Get up and get ready."Tsuna barked out, suddenly acting like a drill sergeant.

"Why couldn't Moka-san wake me up?" lamented Tsukune as he got up and began to get dressed.

"Oh, she volunteered, but I told her I would do it."

"You should have let Moka-San wake me up." cried out Tsukune comically, anime tears falling from his eyes as he imagined the gentle vampire in his room.

"Should I let Kurumu in as well?" asked Tsuna, relishing in the shudder that ran through the other teen. Both of them knew that the Succubus would take the chance to make her destined one hers in every way. "Glad that you understand. Now hurry up, we will be waiting." he said as he left the room, leaving a bewildered Tsukune behind.

-0-

"Good morning Tsukune." greeted Kurumu cheerily. Tsukune's answer was a tired grunt. His appearance was a bit frazzled, he dressed in a hurry.

Tsuna, on the other hand, stood at the side in a perfectly ironed uniform., whistling innocently. He ignored the other boy's pathetic attempt to burn a hole in him with his gaze alone. After facing the likes of Hibari, Xanxus and most importantly Reborn, this poor imitation of intimidation barely registered to the former mafia boss.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when a finger poked his face. Looking to the side, he met with the adorable sight of an angrily pouting Moka. She was blushing very prettily as she tried to glare daggers at him. Tsuna wouldn't have thought he would ever meet someone more adorable than Kyoko, but he stands corrected.

"What did you to Tsukune-San?" even her voice reinforced her adorable image. Tsuna felt a part that he buried deep down, the stuttering, crushing Dame-Tsuna almost make an appearance, but the iron control that Reborn has beaten into him helped force it back. Barely,

"Nothing. I just woke him up." he answered her innocently, but from the look on her face, Moka didn't believe him. And from the stare he felt coming from the rosary on her neck, the other Moka was also not too impressed with his acting."School starts in a few minutes, we should get going." he tried to change a subject not too subtly.

The vampire stared at him for a second, letting him sweat in nervousness before she decided to let it go. Turning towards Kurumu she reminded her they need to get going.

As the four hurried to school, Moka and Tsukune tried to converse with each other, while Kurumu tried to shift the latter's attention to her. Tsuna was walking a few steps behind them, staring at Tsukune seriously.

'I had doubts,' he thought' but seeing the girls' behavior with and without him in the picture, I'm sure.' he gave a sigh of long-suffering as he started to walk faster to join the others.' It's gonna get much worse, isn't it?'

None of them noticed a small figure peeking out from behind a tree.

-0-

"Starting today all of you will be doing club activities after class." told Nekonome-sensei cheerily to their class after everyone took their seat.

The students replied with various amounts of excitement. While some didn't find it interesting, most of the class perked upon hearing it. Moka looked fairly interested, while Tsukune looked gobsmacked. Tsuna was uninterested and was trying to find a way to skip the whole thing. In his mind, when he thought of a club he was only reminded of Hibari's disciplinary committee or even worse Ryohei's boxing club. Add that they were in a school for monsters and the things happened until now and Tsuna had a right to feel wary.

"We'll get a deeper understanding of humans by experiencing human-made activities." Nekonome-sensei continued to talk while Tsuna revisited some of his traumas. "To transform into humans perfectly, we must have a clear understanding of humans."

"Sensei, wouldn't that mean that you would get an F at human transformation?" asking a quite brave student, laughing to himself.

The reason he was laughing was, while she was explaining a fluffy cat tail was peeking out from under her skirt and swinging rapidly. Normally she looked like any other human, but when she became too excited her ears and tail tended to come out and ruin the whole blending into the human world part of the school.

Nekonome-sensei stared blankly at her tail before she looked up at the student who made the observation. Tsuna was able to catch the subtle act of claws slowly replacing her nails and before anyone could react with a cry she was slashing the face of the poor student with no holding back.

As the guy was flailing around with a blood-stained face, the others laughed at his misfortune. Even Tsuna gave a small smile at the comical byplay. He knew enough about injuries and he liked to think that he knew his teacher's character well enough after only a few weeks that it was nothing serious. Still, he couldn't help but comment.

"Clawing other people's faces is not really something humans do." he added with a small smile. In response, Nekonome-sensei began to slash at his face too, but he was able to avoid them with careful maneuvering of his head.

The class laughed merrily at the comedy, while Moka and Tsukune stared at him in amazement.

"Everyone will participate in club activities." their teacher stated merrily, acting like nothing happened after she gave up at catching the brown-haired teen."Be sure to visit the newspaper club, which I'm the advisor of."

-0-

"Wow." Tsukune breathed in awe as the three of them stepped out of class.

The hallways were filled to the brim with various stalls advertising school clubs and curious students who were walking around. The three of them began to look around together, but soon Tsuna was separated from both of them. Not feeling the energy to try to look for them in this whirling sea of students, he browsed around, trying to find a club that didn't creep him out instantly. There were a lot of different clubs, but even the most innocuous was as far from what should be considered normal that it was almost hilarious. Almost.

Tsuna's instincts flared up and he did an improvised backflip to avoid the tentacles of a huge man-eating plant that the Gardening club planted to gather interest for them. Instead, it tried to eat anyone and anything it came in contact with. Before the former mafioso could breathe a sigh of relief, he had to roll out of the way of an out-of-control jackhammer courtesy of the Construction club.

He took refuge next to the wall and he observed the insanity around him, while tried to avoid the worst of it. He should have been more worried, but the sad truth was that the whole thing reminded him too much of the mafia to mind, only these guys didn't try to kill him with intent. They probably didn't notice him while almost ending him several times.

Tsuna quietly walked away, while keeping out an eye for a club that he felt wouldn't shorten his life flat out ignored crazy clubs like the Beheading club, the Acupuncture club, or the Digestation club. And the sooner he forgot even the memory of the S&M club, the better.

He wandered aimlessly until he found the exhibition of a martial arts club, karate if he was not mistaken. He wouldn't have given it much thought, but his attention was grabbed by one of the demonstrators. He saw a tall, intimidating man with broad shoulders and short grey hair. He was wearing a formal white karate gi with a black belt wrapped around his waist. He was shouting with enthusiasm and was breaking large blocks of cement with even greater vigor. As he watched him, Tsuna thought he heard someone somewhere cry out 'extreme!' and did the only logical thing.

'Nope'. he said to himself as he walked away as fast as he could.'Time to find out what trouble Tsukune ended in.'

-0-

Kurumu hurriedly left class and tried to find her way through the hallways in hopes that she could find her destined one and join a club together. She slowly began to fantasize about her time with Tsukune, late-night rendezvous and in the end, he would forget about Moka and realize that they were always meant to be.

"Kya! What a cutie!"

She woke up from her daydreaming when she noticed a large group of girls gathering around. As she walked closer, she saw they were surrounding a small kid, cooing and awing at him.

-0-

Tsuna found them at the swimming pool, at the place of the Swimming club's exhibit. As he looked around, Tsuna supposed he could see why almost half of the male population was here. All the members of the club were extraordinarily gorgeous, though from what he saw it was some kind of standard for the large part of the monster population. He even caught sight of Tsukune in the pool, he was given a lot of attention from a black-haired, busty girl, but given their encounters up until now, Tsuna was not sure how lucky the other boy was. As he surveyed the pool he also saw Moka sitting next to the pool, morosely staring at the water.

"If you stare at it too hard, it would catch fire, you know?" commented the former mafia boss casually as he sat down next to the vampire.

"Tsuna-kun? Where were you?" Moka looked up in wonder before an angry pout appeared on her face."You're here for the swimming club's girls, too?"

Tsuna blinked at that, an amused smile growing on his face.

"I couldn't find you guys so I looked around the clubs. I can't swim for the life of me.." he confessed, earning a confused head tilt from the girl."I was just looking for you two."

Moka stared at him for a while, before with a mute nod she went back to staring daggers at the water and Tsukune. Tsuna scratched the back of his neck, feeling a little awkward.

"I'm guessing coming here was Tsukune's idea, not yours." he didn't wait for her to answer, quite sure about the reasons the black-haired boy wanted to swim."If it is something you don't want or can't do, you should just tell him, instead of brooding on silence."

"But..."Moka tried to object, but he continued to speak.

"You shouldn't lie for his sake. Between friends, honesty is the most important." he told her, while subtly keeping an eye on the pool, his bad feeling becoming stronger.

"But you never tell us anything about yourself." replied the vampire, causing Tsuna to let out a sigh. He eyed the depressed girl for a while, then he decided that it wouldn't hurt to talk a little about himself.

"During middle school, our P.E teacher threatened that any boy who couldn't swim would have to take classes with the girls, so they would be publicly humiliated." he began his story and he saw Moka look at him in interest. "So my friends tried to teach me to swim. We went to the local swimming pool in the middle of the summer to help me learn. It was a complete disaster." he chuckled to himself as he remembered those happier times."One of my friends tried to teach me the theory behind it, but he went too much detail, and all it achieved that my head was spinning. The other was a baseball player and tried to tell me how he swam, but he was just making strange sounds that I couldn't decipher their meanings. In the end, everyone tried various methods and failed, and we were banned from the pool for life. I still ended up with the girls' lesson, but we had fun." Tsuna had a wistful look on his face as he looked at the glistening water and simply relived old memories.

"You never talked about any friends before." commented Moka softly, not wanting to disturb him.

"Those who are closest to you, they could leave the biggest wounds." said Tsuna cryptically, staring back at Moka.

The vampire wasn't sure what to say, but she was touched that he decided to confide in her. No matter how much he joked with her and Tsukune, Tsuna always remained a mystery, even an outsider sometimes.

Of course, because of how the universe works, their small moment was quickly broken up.

"Tsuna-san? When did you come here?" asked Tsukune who swam to the edge of the pool to talk to his friends, with barely masked jealousy in his tone.

"Hey, just arrived. I was looking for you two after I couldn't find you anywhere." replied flippantly the former mafioso, deciding to ignore the jealousy. He once had a crush on a girl too, after all, he could give Tsukune some slack.

"Oh, my, hello there." greeted him kindly the president of the swimming club, Ichinose Tamao. She had been with Tsukune and decided to come after him, eying the new boy with thinly veiled hunger."Are you here to join the swimming club?"

It escaped both of the boys' notice, but Moka glared at her as she caught her eying Tsuna.

"I'll pass." Tsuna answered coldly. If it was him back in middle school he would have blushed like a tomato, but Reborn was nothing if not thorough. He even trained him to be able to resist girls seducing him, thus using him for their own means. "I'm allergic to water. And fish." he subtly glared at her, recognizing her for a small fish fashioning herself as a predator. And he spent too much time with Hibari.

"A pity."Ichinose commented before she turned her attention back to Tsukune.

But that was the point where Moka lost the last of her patience and rounded on the clueless boy.

"Stop it already! When it comes down to it, you just wanted to join the swimming club because you wanted to get closer to the girls, didn't you?" her outburst shocked both Tsuna and Tsukune, neither saw her this worked up before."I've had enough I'm leaving." with that, she began to walk away.

"Wait!" cried out Tsukune as he tried to get out of the pool. "Please understand, I just really wanted to swim with you..." he was cut off when Tsuna stepped into his view, giving the black-haired boy a sideways glance.

"Did you ask her what she wanted to do? Did you ask her why she didn't want to swim? Think about it." told him Tsuna, while Moka left. With another glance at the pool, not missing the stare he got from the girls for some reason, he went to follow the vampire leaving Tsukune in the water.

She didn't go very far, she was sitting next to the school building's wall. Her head was bowed, but Tsuna still could spot a few stray tears, while her rosary almost angrily glowed, indicating that the other Moka was talking to her.

"No...No" she was shaking her head in denial to something, not noticing that the brown-haired boy stopped next to her. "I'm sick of this body. Why can't I be like everyone else? I'm weird. I want to swim with Tsuna and Tsukune too. I want to be with my friends." her tears at that point began to fall.

"Didn't I tell you I'm not swimming? And yes, you are pretty weird." he commented as he slid down next to her, ignoring her hurt stare. "But I prefer you weird. A good weird. Trust me, normal is overrated. At least around you guys, I'm entertained." he raised his hand and without conscious thought he gently swiped away Moka's tears, not noticing her now blushing face."So what if you are unable to swim? We will find something to do, something all of us could enjoy. But to do that you have to tell us. Does water have some bad effects on your body?" Tsuna asked, having some kind of idea based on her reactions.

"Ye-Yes." she stammered out, beat red. Finally realizing how close they were Tsuna also became red and pulled his back and looked away in embarrassment."Vampires are weak against water, it drains the supernatural energy from our bodies, paralyzing us."

"See? I didn't know that, and neither is Tsukune. You seem to forget that you are friends with two clueless humans. Just as in this school you learn about the human world and culture, if we want our friendship to work, you have to teach us about the supernatural, so Tsukune won't do something thoughtless again, like wanting to get you into the pool."His embarrassment didn't die down, because Moka hugged his arm to her and rested her head on his shoulder basking in her friend's presence. Wisely he didn't comment on it, and they rested there for a few minutes to allow the vampire to calm down.

"Can you promise to stay my friend? I...I do not want to be alone. Never again. This warmth...I want to cherish it forever." she said tentatively after a long silence, unaware of how intimate the entire screen looked from the outside.

Tsuna closed his eyes in thought, remembering a kind girl similar to Moka who promised to stay by his side. But in the end, he too was left alone. As much as he liked Moka and Tsukune, as much as he liked to know that people liked him for him, with no connection to the mafia, the betrayals he suffered still weighed heavily in him.

"I want to, a large part of me desperately wants to make that promise." he told her, looking directly in the pink-haired girl's eyes."But I can't, not without sounding insincere. My past...Those closest to me let me down, and I just can't...I can't go through that again."

Moka eyed him seriously for a long moment and Tsuna thought she would get angry and leave. Instead, she smiled at him, momentarily taking the former mafioso's breath away.

"Then I guess, I have to stay until you can make that promise Tsuna-kun!" she declared with confidence, Tsuna feeling a strange whiplash from the emotional jumps of the last few minutes.

They stayed silent for a short while, one smiling happily, reassured thanks to her friend, the other simply staring ahead blankly, completely lost just what happened just now. In the end, Tsuna decided to not so subtly change the subject.

"Why don't we take off your rosary?" he asked her, causing Moka to turn to him in question.

"Why?" she asked simply, cutely tilting her head. Tsuna felt his face redden as the thought registered in his mind, deciding to be extra cautious in checking his food from now on since he must have eaten something poisonous. That's the only explanation.

"Well, you had a tiring day, so you should rest for a while. And from the glow of your rosary, the other Moka looks like she wants to say a few things herself." Indeed the rosary was glowing and even moving erratically, strangely reminiscent of his Vongola Box before he was able to open it. Moka looked down curiously, nodding in agreement after she presumably talked to her other half."Also, we left Tsukune with a bunch of monsters. Without us, he tends to run into trouble fairly quickly, so we should hurry because from what I saw before we left, those girls either gonna eat him, or rape him."He hummed a little absentmindedly, not noticing the horrified look on the vampire's face." Don't know which could be worse."

"Tsuna-kun!" cried out Moka, causing him to sheepishly chuckle.

"Sorry." he apologized, before grabbing the rosary and taking it off with an ease that still surprised him. As the vampire's true self was released and her energy as well the faint impression of cloud flames poured out, he wondered if he was able to unseal her because of him being a sky. Even when they went to the future, the harmony factor of the dying will flame of the sky was something of an unknown.

The silver-haired Moka stood up with a grace that only a predator could have. Tsuna followed suit, by the time he straightened out the vampire stepped very close to him, eying his neck with an interesting gaze. He wasn't surprised by it, her other half tended to get hungry and suck his blood at the most inappropriate times. Still, he tried not to show the slight discomfort he felt, because this Moka was always different, he always had a hard time anticipating her. Almost as if even his fabled Vongola Hyper Intuition was unable to get a read on her.

He wasn't able to fool her, because Moka flashed him a mocking smirk before leaning back and regarding him a bit more seriously.

"Why did you want to release me? Truthfully." she added when it looked like, he was about to repeat what he said to her other self.

"You are more level-headed." at her questioning glance, he scratched the back of his head sheepishly."The other you tend to react more based on emotion than logic. I wouldn't be surprised if she tried to jump into the pool to try to save Tsukune. And I could use the back-up if things get out of control." all he got from her was a raised eyebrow, but no real objection, so taking it as her agreeing, Tsuna turned around and began to walk in the direction of the pool. A moment later Moka joined him, a small frown on her face.

"I'm not going into the water. That boy isn't worth it." she told him, Tsuna only giving a simple nod to show he heard her.

Sometimes it surprised him how different the two sides of Moka were, like day and night. He could still see similarities in their personalities, but it could be still jarring. For a moment he wondered if people experienced similar when he was in dying will mode, more than aware how different he was in and out of it back then. Nowadays, he wasn't sure how much truly remained of the Sawada Tsunayoshi who encountered Reborn for the first time.

"Why do you use others to fight for you? I know you are stronger than you look, yet you always hit Tsukune with those bullets of yours instead of yourself." wondered out loud the vampire at his side. Her tone light, still Tsuna knew he better answer or risk angering her.

"The current me is unable to use most of my powers." he answered in a short while after he straightened out his thoughts. He respected her enough to be a little honest."The only thing that still works is the dying will bullet and even then it's with varying intensity. It's safer to use it on Tsukune." he pulled out his gun, checking the bullets in it. After they came back from the future, Reborn insisted that Tsuna learn to use and also keep a gun on him all the time. The study sessions that followed whenever he forgot to reload bullets in it, still gives him nightmares. "And usually it's him that is the middle of the trouble, so he should be the one getting out of it."

Moka simply hummed in response, letting go of the subject. Soon they arrived at the pool, the panicked cries of various male students reaching their ears. Sharing a look with each other, the two of them hurried in to assess the situation.

It was chaos. Students struggled against each other, trying to get out of the pool, becoming easy prey for the girls of the swimming pool. Tsuna had to blink in astonishment when he saw one of them bite a slower guy and draining away his life energy, causing him to age rapidly into an old man.

"Well, at least when you bite me, you only take my blood." he commented glibly, trying to mask his uneasiness. Moka didn't dignify it with a response.

"They are mermaids." she told him, casually observing all that's happening in the pool. "They a little dangerous in the water, no threats outside of it." she looked at the other end of the pool and scoffed lightly."And of course, that fool is in the middle of it."

Tsuna also looked over and immediately spotted Tsukune. Poor guy was surrounded by the mermaids, with the captain, Ichinose keeping him in her grasp. And from the way her mouth was widened to an impossible size, she planned to eat him in one piece.

"Guess it's time for the dying will." he muttered as he quickly took aim and fired a bullet at Tsukune. Ichinose released the human in her grasp, surprised at th sound of a gunshot. She turned towards the two standing at the edge of the pool, but before she could do anything a roar from Tsukune caught her attention.

"Reborn! Avoid being eaten as if I were to die! he roared out before with a swing he pushed away from the mermaids around him. To give him a more even fighting chance, Tsuna fired two more bullets, this time into his heels, causing his ankles to rotate at high speed enabling him to swim around the same speed the mermaids do. Thus started a comical chase of Tsukune and the mermaids.

The only one who didn't go after the human was Ichinose who instead glared at Moka and Tsuna who silently watched the show.

"So the vampire returned. Afraid of getting wet?" sneered the captain at Moka, but the silver-haired girl hadn't even looked as if she heard anything.

"I would never understand this bullet of yours." she murmured instead to the human at her side who give a small chuckle.

"Yeah, the whole stripping and roaring part is why I avoid using it on myself." he looked at the struggling Tsukune a little fondly, remembering the incidents he ended up thanks to Rebor and his friends.

Ichinose tired of being ignored gave a battle cry and followed the most foolish course of action. She launched herself out of the pool, flying towards Moka who still didn't look in her direction.

"I'll get rid of you for good." she roared at the vampire, forgetting that out of the water she was the one with a disadvantage.

"To take the bait and being caught so simply, you have to be a fish." Moka stated disinterestedly, kicking the mermaid in the face, knocking her out instantly."Know your place." Moka hissed lowly as a little water still reached her, mostly landing on her legs and face.

"You alright?" asked Tsuna a little worried, while still keeping an eye on the pool. Thankfully most of the students were able to get out with Tsukune swimming around like a madman, but aside from Ichinose all the other mermaids were up and hungry."Now how to deal with these guys..."

Just then a new figure arrived, drawing their attention.

"Moka! Tsuna! What's going on?" Kurumu ran towards them, a little out of breath, looking worried. "Where is Tsukune-kun?" she came to a halt when she spied her destined one in the pool, the strange fire once again on his forehead.

Tsuna absently looked at her, when he saw the other figure calmly walking next to her. His whole posture stiffened in surprise, feeling the up until now repressed feelings of anger and hurt coming up to the surface.

"You?" his voice had a menacing quality to it, that even he was shocked to hear. Moka and Kurumu stared at him in surprise, confused by the change.

"Long time no see, Boss."

The figure was a teen a few years older than Tsuna. He had short, messy black hair with a few braids in it, his right eye was closed for some reason, his outfit consisted of a black jacket with a cowhide pattern collar, which is somewhat opened and left the upper half of his chest out. He was also wearing a necklace with a bull pendant, beige pants, and most strangely sandals. He had a lazy air around him, but with a hard to miss hardness beneath the surface.

"Lambo. What are you doing here?" asked Tsuna harshly from his previous lightning guardian's ten years later version. At 17, Lambo was a little taller than Tsuna, who had a growth spurt in the last few years.

"Where did that little kid go?" wondered Kurumu, who probably met the younger Lambo, not this one.

"Probably my younger self was frightened by something, so he switched places with me from ten years later." Lambo answered Tsuna, completely ignoring the succubus much to her chagrin. He looked towards the pool and spied Tsukune still swimming with his dying will. "The dying will bullet. That sure takes me back." he reminisced for a moment before turning towards Tsuna with a small smile." You need help with this, Boss?"

"I'm not your boss. Not anymore." replied the former mafioso harshly.

"Not right now. But the future is never set in stone." said Lambo mysteriously, further confusing the two listening girls."So, what will it be?"

Tsuna looked over at Tsukune. The kid was holding up alright, but there were still too many mermaids on his heels and sooner or later the dying will bullet will wear off. And since Moka did not feel like jumping into the water to save the human, their options were limited,

"Do it." he said after a long moment. He didn't even notice that his gun was trained on his former guardian only becoming aware of this fact after he lowered it. It wouldn't have mattered anyway, only dying will bullets were in the gun.

"On it." Lambo said with a small smile. He stepped to the edge of the pool and swept his hair away, revealing two small horns on the side of his head. Tsuna was unsure if he had them there the entire time or just gotten that good in stealthily putting it on, either way from the looks of it the older Lambo was aware of the supernatural world and probably this school to some extent.

The brown-haired teen tried to ignore the glare that Moka was sending him, no doubt angered because he left her out of the loop. Compared to that, ignoring Kurumu's insistent questions was much easier.

"Thunder set!" Lambo roared out as lightning crackled overhead, a bolt hitting him directly. Kurumu cried in fright, but Tsuna saw clearly that all of the electricity was stored in his horns. With his horns powered up, Lambo lowered his head before thrusting it out in the direction of the pool."Electrico Cornata!" As the accumulated electricity began to fly at the mermaids, Tsuna had to blink in amazement. That technique's greatest weakness was its short-range. The 25-year-old Lambo was able to use it as a ranged attack, but he didn't think even the 17 years old version of his lightning guardian could use that.

The moment the electricity made connect with the water, the whole pool was electrified. Kurumu took a step back in fright, but Lambo, Moka, and Tsuna remained where they were. All of the mermaids cried out in pain, while Tsukune roared in defiance, thanks to the dying will mode able to shrug off the electric attack for the time being.

"What was that?" Moka tried not to look a little impressed by the attack, but Tsuna saw through her. Truth to be told, even he was a little impressed when he saw the 25-year-old version of Lambo fight. Lambo looked over at Moka and his eyes widened suddenly, even paled a little.

"Aren't you the boss' w-„ his words were cut off when pink smoke engulfed his form, causing the others, save for Tsuna, to blink in bewilderment.

"What's with the smoke?" asked Kurumu, coughing a little from the after effect of the ten-year bazooka. The smoke dispersed, revealing the younger, 7 years old Lambo. He still had an afro, similar to what he had as a small child, but it was smaller and looking closer to his adult version's hairstyle. He wasn't wearing anything cow-themed, instead, he wore a small version of the school's uniform for whatever reason. He didn't appear to notice the others, munching happily on a cookie."Hey, this is the kid I found in the school. He was looking for Tsuna." said Kurumu, feeling a little lost on what's happening.

At hearing Tsuna's name, Lambo looked up curiously, zeroing on the former mafia boss instantly. He quickly gulped down the last of the cookie, before launching himself at the bewildered teen.

"Tsuna-nii!" he cried out in relief. "It was so scary! There were a lot of strange people, and I even saw a ghost. Then I used the bazooka and met a scary lady who gave me cookies." he babbled on to his shirt, much to Tsuna's exasperation.

"Lambo." he sighed a little fondly as the cries of Lambo subdued. The young boy was one of the few he didn't feel betrayed by, in his own way he even stayed with him after the inheritance ceremony. And no matter how annoying he could be, he grows on you after a while. A long while."What are you doing here?"

Before he could answer a loud slap diverted their attention. Tsukune who was smoking just a little was finally was able to get out of the pool only to run into the vampire side of Moka, who quickly slapped him, quite gently for her., though it still caused the raven-haired teen to fall on his side.

"What are you doing to Tsukune-kun?" Kurumu was instantly at his side, checking his injuries in worry. Moka ignored her as she talked to Tsukune.

"The other Moka cried." she told them solemnly, causing Tsukune to sit up in alarm. Tsuna remained silent with Lambo watching from his side, curious as to what would happen. "Due to her inferiority complex over being different from others, she blamed herself for not being able to swim. She always had to live with being hurt in the human society like that. Men like you who unable to think about anything but themselves have no right to come near me. Stay out of my sight Tsukune." With that Moka turned away from him walked towards Tsuna.

When she reached him, he stopped her, giving her a searching look.

"Are you alright?" he asked, referring to the water she came in contact with. Moka didn't say anything for a moment, visibly struggling to admit any kind of weakness on her part before she gave in,

"I will be alright. It was just a little water, I would be fine after a day." she told him quietly.

Tsuna nodded, reassured that she was fine. With one last look at a still shocked Tsukune, he grabbed Lambo around his neck, eliciting a loud 'Gyupaa!' from the young boy.

"Come on Lambo," he told the struggling kid."let's walk Moka back to her room then we will talk about what are you doing here." Moka didn't give any reaction to that, but let them tag along as they left the pool, leaving Kurumu and Tsukune behind.

-0-

Like anyone who stayed even for a short while with Lambo, Tsuna always had a stash of candy on him, to bribe the most of the time annoying child. Even now, he gave Lambo a grape candy, his favorite to help him calm down and talk.

They were sitting in the small kitchen of Moka's room after they escorted her back. Unlike the boy's dormitory, girls had a larger living space, along with a bathroom and a small kitchen. And like the rest of the school, things were pretty lax. Nobody batted an eye when they saw a boy carrying a sleeping girl in his arms in the girl's dormitory.

Moka had fallen asleep as soon as the rosary was back in its place and her vampire powers were sealed looked paler than usual, probably the effect of the water, and a little worryingly light to Tsuna who was becoming used to carry her unconscious form in his arms. If this goes on, his conscience would force him to make sure she was eating properly, which meant more frequent Tsuna snacktimes. Why would he think that his life could ever be normal?

Shaking his head slightly, to chase away these thoughts, he turned towards the Bovino kid sitting before him, happily munching away on his candy. Tsuna decided to stay here for a little while, in case Moka wakes up and needs help. While they waited, it was the perfect time to get some answers.

"Lambo," he spoke up softly, gaining the young hitman's attention." why have you come to my new school?"

Lambo didn't answer immediately, instead, he was busy chewing his candy, but Tsuna was patient. Over the years, he got used to the child's antics, and if you knew him well enough, he was not such a bad company. Relatively.

"Mama sent me on an errand." he said, at last, looking proud for himself."Baka-Reborn sent you some stuff and Mam asked me to come and give it to you."

"Stuff? What stuff?" Tsuna narrowed his eyes in suspicion at hearing his former tutor's name. He was out of the mafia, a nobody, what was the strongest hitman wanted to do with him still?

"Here, I have it with me." Lambo took off the school bag from his back, something Tsuna only now noticed, and scowled inwardly because of it. He was being sloppy, and he could hear Reborn mocking him in his head for it.

Lambo gave the bag to him, Tsuna quickly (and carefully) checked its contents. First, was a bottle of dying will pills, which Tsuna had to admit came right on time, he was running low on bullets, keeping Tsukune alive was a tough job. After that came a familiar pair of white mittens with a 27 on each of them. He didn't know where it could have gone, but he couldn't find it when he packed for school. There was also a note in the bag from Reborn. He quickly glanced at it and frowned at what was written in it.

" _Remember Kokuyo"_ was all that was on the note. He tried to think through what it could mean. Assuming it was truly from Reborn it's safe to say it was referring to something only a few of them understand in case someone else got their hands on the note.

Kokuyo should refer to Mukuro and his gang but this was too obvious, especially with the word remember. It would suggest a past event, but what happened in Kokyou? Their first fight against Mukuro! Tsuna's eyes widened in realization and he tried to recall what would be so significant that he needed to remember. They fought against first Ken, M.M, Birds and...and Lancia who they thought was Mukuro! Was that it? Maybe Mukuro once again using another as his 'face'? But why would it have anything with him? Maybe Mukuro once again is targeting him for some reason?

'Or maybe I'm just grasping at straws.' he thought bitterly and angrily crumpled the note. 'I'm no longer his student or minion. I don't have anything to do with the mafia and its string of betrayals.' He was about to give the bag back to Lambo when he spied one last item. Pulling it out of the bag, his eyes widened in disbelief as he found the lucky charm that he got from Kyoko so long ago.

He had no idea how Reborn found this. He remembered very clearly when he threw it into the river near his house in a fit of frustration after he came back from the inheritance ceremony, feeling alone and vulnerable, after he learned that Yamamoto and Kyoko were dating since about a month ago in secret, from Hana of all people. He didn't want to look at that reminder anymore, and now seeing it once again, conflicting emotions arose once again. In the end, he simply put it into the bag again, before handing it back to Lambo.

Lambo looked a little scared, probably more of his thoughts showed on his face than he wanted to. Giving the young boy a reassuring smile, he gently patted his head.

"Thank you, Lambo, you did good work." Lambo smiled happily at that and even Tsuna felt a little lighter. Even if he was a hitman, Lambo was still so innocent in most things that just by being near him helped forget the scars the mafia put on him."When are you going home?"

"I don't know." he tilted his head in confusion, trying to recall how he got here. "I wanted to try to go to you when I found this scary bus driver who took me here and told me where to find you. Then a lot of girls were there and then that one knew you and told me to go with her..." he began to babble and soon Tsuna ignored him as he thought the situation through.

There was no way Lambo was here by coincidence. No matter how lax the school handled internal matters, keeping the school hidden by the human world was their first priority. It could have been explained as a coincidence when it was only him and Tsukune, humans in this academy, but now Lambo just was lucky enough to find a bus driver to bring him here. No, it was no coincidence at all. Whoever brought them here was most probably aware of his and Lambo's mafia connections for sure and had some plan involving them. But what, he had no idea.

He looked over in the direction of his young guardian, lost in thought. He was at a disadvantage. No idea what the other side planned, he wasn't even sure who he was dealing with. The only thing he could do was wait and keep his eyes open, no matter how much he disliked waiting for the inevitable. And as Tsuna made up his mind, he tried to ignore the little voice in the back of his head that reminded him that he was thinking like a proper mafia boss.

Giving a glance to the direction Moka was resting, he stood up, prompting Lambo to do the same.

"Come on, Lambo." he began to walk towards the door, after checking on Moka one last time."Moka will sleep for a while, so time to go.

"Where are we going?" asked the young boy curiously as they began to leave the girl's dormitory.

"Back to my room. Then we will see when you can go back home." he told him simply.

When they left, they met Tsukune of all people. He was back in his school uniform, managing to look embarrassed, ashamed, and brooding all at once. If Tsuna was not deep in thought because of the possible implications of Reborn's note and Lambo's presence he would have found it funny. Instead, he only raised an eyebrow in question.

"You know that this is not the boy's dormitory, right?" he asked with a false smile, covering up his worries.

The boy only nodded in answer, constantly looking down to his feet, not meeting the other teen's gaze.

"I wanted to see Moka-san." he told him after a few moments in a low, subdued voice.

"She's sleeping. According to the other Moka, she should be fine by tomorrow, or the day after the latest." said Tuna, and began his alk to his room once again, Lambo on his heels, but stopped when Tsukune's voice rang out.

"Please train me."

Tsuna turned back, blinking in confusion as Tsukune was bowing before him, his body achieving a perfect ninety degrees. Lambo looked like he wanted to comment on it, but a hand on his head made him fall silent. The former mafia boss regarded Tsukune for a moment, deciding to hear him out.

„I...I want to be stronger. I want to go to school with Moka, with you, I don't want to be a burden. Please, teach me how to use the dying will." he said sincerely, looking up and meeting the brown-haired teen's eyes.

Tsuna searched his eyes for something and after a few moments, he apparently found it. He gave a nod, mostly to himself before a grin appeared on his face that sent shivers down on Tsukune's spine. He had a feeling that sooner or later he would regret asking for help. Tsuna turned to the child curiously standing next to him.

"Lambo, how many grenades you have on you?" The regret came sooner than expected.


	4. Let's try and not kill senpai

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsuna and the others join the newspaper club and encounter a werewolf. Tsuna is not amused

When Tsukune asked his enigmatic friend, Tsuna to train him the day before yesterday, he wasn't sure what to expect. Maybe some kind of sage advice, or a couple of fighting techniques. Or even something like a training montage he saw in a few films. But he certainly did not expect this.

"Have mercy!" he cried out, terrified as he ran through the forest surrounding the school as if the devil was on his heels. From a certain point of view, it was true.

His suffering started as soon as he had woken up. The sun was not even up, when a gigantic mallet crashed next to his head, making him practically jump out of his bed. Awoken from another dream featuring Moka, and scared beyond belief, he looked up, afraid of what will await him. He found Tsuna standing at the foot of his futon, mallet casually resting on his shoulder, watching him with a grin that promised pain. Tsukune later would deny that he shrieked like a little girl.

Soon after that Tsuna fastened a backpack on him that was at least 30 kilos and told him he couldn't take it off until the end of the warmups, unless he wanted to suffer a fate worse than death. With that, he was told to circle around the forest next to them once then the actual training would begin. He felt a little relieved about finding nothing absurd about it. He should have known better.

The actual warmup consisted of him trying to stay alive by running away from the grenades thrown by the little kid he saw with Tsuna before. The weight on his back didn't help matters, but thankfully he was able to avoid most of it, through the causal clothes he put on were singed and a little torn up.

Tsuna was lazily jogging a few paces behind them, observing the struggles of the black-haired boy with a critical eye and slight enjoyment. It felt really good to see someone other than himself trying to survive a hellish course like that. He noticed that Tsukune was slowing down and called out to Lambo who was chasing his unfortunate student like a maniac.

"Time to turn up the heat!" he yelled, causing the young boy to cackle gleefully and pull out a rocket launcher from who knows where. He long ago stopped trying to work out that mystery. Mafioso always had a special relationship with their weapons, he learned.

TsuKune paled at seeing the new weapon in Lambo's small hands and redoubled his speed as rockets exploded around him.

"I'm going to die!" Tsuna doubted that there was anyone on campus who hadn't heard him with a powerful cry like that.

"If you so much breath to waste," said Tsuna as he pulled out his gun and aimed at the running teen." then just die already." with that he fired the dying will bullet at him just as a rocket exploded dangerously close to him.

"Reborn." roared the boxer-clad teen and began to swat away the oncoming missiles."Survive as I were to die."

Meanwhile, Tsuna frowned as he looked at his gun in contemplation. Making a quick count in his head, his frown deepened as he realized that this was the ninth dying will bullet he shot at Tsukune. Hopefully, he could keep him out of trouble as he calls in a few favors or the tenth bullet will be the last.

-0-

"That was fun! Let's do it again!" said Lambo cheerfully as he energetically skipped on the path leading to the dormitories. Tsuna was holding Tsukune's collar and was dragging the unconscious teen through the dirt, showing very little care. Tsukune should consider himself lucky that he wasn't leaving him alone in the forest. If he was Reborn, Tsukune would wake up in the middle of the forest alone, tied up and surrounded by landmines. Landmines. Something to consider.

Shaking his head, to clear it from the painful memories containing a certain spartan tutor, instead, he looked at the young boy walking ahead of him and thought of what he found when they returned to his room two days ago.

They found a letter along with an extra futon and child-sized clothes in his room. Years of being with the mafia made him paranoid, so he checked out the whole room before even coming close to the letter. He found nothing, but he wasn't very surprised, he didn't know much about the different abilities youkai had. In the end, he had no choice but to read the letter.

_"Sawada-san. Your young companion has been placed in your room for the duration of his stay. Of course, we, the school will provide him with the necessary things for that time. Unfortunately, there won't be any buses going into the human world, until the beginning of the summer. Until then, I hope Lambo-kun will enjoy his time at our Academy._

_The headmaster_

Tsuna couldn't help but worry. Knowing his luck, something big would happen before he had a chance to send Lambo home. It also didn't help his paranoia that the headmaster knew so much and had so much power over him in school. There was also probably him who caused the presence of three humans on campus, while there should be none. Something was bound to happen. Maybe that's what the headmaster wants.

But it was pointless to think so much. For now, all he could do was enjoy his simple life and react should anything come out of it.

With that cheerful thought, he dropped off Tsukune after telling him to get ready for school, leaving Lambo in his room, telling him to study and not to cause any trouble. Then he left the dorm and went to visit Moka.

Yesterday it was raining heavily and she still not felt 100 percent, so she didn't come to school. Tsuna left Lambo with her to keep her company and for her to keep an eye on Lambo, but she should be fine by now. He walked to her door, but before he could knock, it was suddenly opened and a lithe body collided with his.

"Tsuna-kun!" was all he heard before he felt something warm on his neck.

"Be sure to not drink too much." stated the teen simply as he let Moka greedily suck his blood. It was a little disturbing how easily he got used to this.

"Thank you for the meal." said Moka with a bright smile. Tsuna only sighed, a little tired from the sudden blood loss. A sidelong glance confirmed the vampire looked much better.

"You okay?" he asked just to be safe.

"Yes, thank you. I feel much better."

"Great. Then let's get going." said the former mafia boss as he began to leave the female dorms. "If we hurry Tsukune wouldn't bleed out on us...again." he added the last part softly, hoping the vampire won't catch it. He should know better.

"Tsuna-kun! What were you doing to Tsukune?" cried out a horrified Moka.

-0-

"Newspaper club?" asked Tsuna with an eyebrow raised.

Nekonome-sensei nodded, an encouraging smile on her face. It was after classes and she held the three of them back to talk about clubs.

"Yes, the three of you are the only ones in my class who have yet to join a club. And since I am in charge of the newspaper club I thought I could recommend it to you." explained the teacher. She was right. After what happened with the swimming club they all forgot to look for clubs. And even if they tried to find one, from what he saw when he looked around, Tsuna found not one that looked appealing. At this point, they only had to choose the lesser evil.

"Nobody joined and it might shut down. So join the newspaper club." insisted sensei, causing Tsuna to sweatdrop. Now it made more sense that she was so vehemently advertising the club, but even so.

"It sounds like a quiet and calm club." mumbled Tsukune next to him. Poor boy was barely got through classes, his whole body sporting injuries and he even had a hard time trying to stay conscious. For a brief moment, Tsuna thought about going easier on the boy but quickly perished the thought. It's do or die and if he wasn't ready for this Tsukune will die for sure. Either by his training or the dangers of the school.

"That's great! I'll join that club!" compared to the other two, Moka was much more enthusiastic. She was like this the whole day, she must have been lonely in her room with only Lambo around while they were in class. Still, the way Tsukune's head rapidly turned to her, the typical puppy look on his face, Tsuna knew the two will join the newspaper club. And by default so will he, because someone needed to keep an eye out for the two of them and not like there were any other viable options on the table.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, he thought while they were signing up their names, with such a low number of members the club has, the chances of running into a monster that would cause trouble to them was a lot smaller. But knowing the other resident human's bad luck, Tsuna wasn't very hopeful.

"Can I also join?" asked eagerly Kurumu who only showed up so she could hang around her destined one. Nekonome-sensei naturally had to trouble with even more members.

-0-

"I'm just so happy we can go to the same club together, Tsukune." cried out Kurumu in happiness as she hugged Tsukune's head into her chest.

While the human was waving wildly, trying not to suffocate, Moka looked worriedly at the scene in front of her, completely missing the succubus's challenging glare. Seems like Kurumu still felt threatened by Moka.

"What are they doing?" asked a clueless Lambo who was walking next to Tsuna, wearing a miniature school uniform. "Gyupaa!" he cried out in fright when Tsuna grabbed his collar and lifted him up to his eye-level.

"Ask that question again in ten years." told the brown-haired boy a bit disinterestedly, before his gaze sharpened, making the young boy cease his struggling. "First off, no word about a mafia okay?" he whispered lowly, "And also we shouldn't be here so don't cause trouble."Lambo slowly nodded, trying not to fidget as he was held up by the teen. Tsuna's gaze softened a little, before putting him down and patting his head with affection."If you behave. I have a secret stash of grape candy just for you." at that he got a very enthusiastic nod, causing him to chuckle softly.

He decided to take Lambo with him to the club because it was hard enough to keep Lambo entertained while he was in class, he did not want him to get into trouble. Also, if anything happened in the club, he could use his, or at least his ten year later versions, help. He talked about it with Nekonome-sensei and after he explained why was there a young boy with him, the teacher agreed with a glowing smile before nuzzling her cheek to the young boy's.

So that's how the five of them found themselves sitting in an empty classroom, Nekonome-sensei brightly smiling at them.

"Thank you for joining my club, everyone. So let's begin the activities of the Youkai Academy Newspaper club." she beamed at them enthusiastically while holding up a paper, presumably a previous one made by the club last year.

Moka, Kurumu, and Tsukune just gaped at her as they looked around the room, trying to find somebody, anybody else here other than them. Tsuna, on the other hand, leaned back in his chair comfortably. It suited him just fine with only them here, maybe he could find some peace and quiet, something that proved to be a rarity here, much like with the mafia.

"Are we the only members?" burst out Kurumu in confusion.

"Don't be silly. There is one more member" said the teacher in a smile. From the corner of his eye, Tsuna noticed the door quietly open and someone stepping in. "Here he is." the sensei noticed too and turned to the new arrival with a smile.

„Excuse me." called out a slightly older student with a smile. He had ink-black hair m with a white headband under his hair and light green eyes. He was wearing the standard male uniform, except for the tie, and his shirt was open a little, where a wolf head pendant could be seen around his neck. Overall, he looked like a typical pretty boy, who girls tended to get crushes on."Man, I am sorry. Here I am late on my first day." he said with a charming smile, laughing a little to himself. He also held two bouquets of roses in his hands.

"Nice to meet you." he greeted them as he stepped into the room fully. "I'm the president of the newspaper club, Morioka Ginei, though you can call me Gin-kun." he told the girls as he handed each of them a bouquet, ignoring the boys completely."Red flowers are always suitable for such lovely ladies."

While Tsukune gaped at him in astonishment, Tsuna chose to silently eye him. He didn't have a malicious air around him, like a lot of monsters that proved to be trouble these last few weeks, still, the former mafioso knew not to let his guard down.

"Gin-kun is the only 2nd-year member of the club." Nekonome-sensei introduced him. "Just ask him if there is anything you don't know about the club."

"You can always count on me." said Gin confidently, before he noticed Lambo silently sleeping on a desk. "Who is that?" he asked curiously.

"Oh, that's Lambo-kun, Tsuna-kun's little brother." explained the teacher, as she petted the sleeping boy's head."Due to a family emergency, Lambo-kun had to come to stay with Tsuna-kun. The headmaster agreed, so Lambo-kun will live on the campus until the end of the first semester. Tsuna-kun asked if he could also join so he didn't have to be alone the whole day. So please take care of him." she said with a blinding smile.

"Ah, okay." answered Gin a little hesitantly.

"Thank you once again, sensei." Tsuna smiled at her, though that was not at all what he explained to her. Their homeroom teacher was an airhead that's for sure, but she had such an honest and kind air around her that made her instantly likable. Even if she sometimes forgets to tell them the most basic things.

Nekonome-sensei looked at the clock, her eyes widening in realization.

"Oh, look at the time. I must be going, have a staff meeting to attend. Take care of the club proceedings for me, Gin-kun." she said as she began to hurriedly leave."See you soon. Make friends with your senpai."

"Right, let's get to it." said Gin as he sat down at the teacher's desk."First I'll explain just what kind of club is this. Our goal is basically to publish the school newspaper. Most of your activities will be reporting of all kinds of things and putting them into the paper." their senior actually looked dependable as he leaned on his desk with a confident grin."We will be put into dangerous situations time after time for the sake of reporting! I'll tell you right now, it ain't gonna be an easy ride. Once you joined, you should prepare yourselves." he finished his passionate speech, shocking them all.

Tsukune, Moka, and Kurumu just gaped silently at Gin, completely surprised by how passionate he sounded about this club. Even Tsuna looked taken aback, it was a long time since he heard someone sound so dedicated about something so..ordinary. Lambo meanwhile woke up, yawning loudly and completely ignoring what's going around him.

"He sure looks like someone we could depend on, right?" asked a smiling Moka softly from Tsukune, who could nod in response. Tsuna was about to comment on it when he spotted Gin's smile before the man burst out laughing.

"Just messing with ya! Let's have some fun without all the strict talk." he said before holding up a poster advertising the newspaper club."This is our poster ad. Let's put it on the back wall."

As they stood up and began to work, Tsuna eyed the president from the corner of his eye. Even he was fooled by his words for a moment and that did not sit well with him. Still, he decided to withhold judgment, for now, seeing everyone as a potential enemy was Reborn's teaching speaking to him, not his own thoughts. At least that's what he tended to tell himself.

Gin was directing Kurumu and Moka who stood on chairs on where to place the posters, while Tsuna and Tsukune sorted out the various posters.

"Senpai, is this high enough to stick the posters?" called out Moka balancing on her chair.

"Just a little bit higher." called out Gin who was standing a few feet away looking in the girls' direction contemplating."

"This is one weird poster." whispered Tsukune as he saw one featuring Nekonome-sensei advertising the club. "Sometimes he is flirty, sometimes he is serious. I wonder what kind of person Gin-senpai is." he said to Tsuna who worked next to him.

The brown-haired teen didn't answer but looked to the side where Gin stood calling up to the girls to place the posters a bit higher. His brows furrowed when he noticed the older teen looking intently at the girls, before crouching down. Tsuna wondered what he was doing, before it clicked in his head, causing him to frown furiously.

"And here I was hoping things will be different." he mumbled to himself.

Meanwhile, Gin was trying to get a look under their skirts, smiling widely to himself when out of nowhere a foot crashed into his head sending him into the wall with a large thud. Looking up, massaging his hurt face he saw Tsuna glaring at him, hands in his pockets and leg still extended from the kick he sent.

"I really should lower my expectations of people." he said to himself before looking at Gin. "I mean really? Making the girls put up the posters so you could peep under their skirts? How desperate you have to be?" he glared with such intensity at Gin, that the older student found himself scared for a second. Then, quickly regaining his with he stood up, patting himself down, showing Tsuna a charming smile.

"Nonsense." he laughed to himself."I'm not the kind of guy who would do something so lame."

"You are the kind of guy who would do this." deadpanned Tsuna, not liking the fact that Gin tried to deny it.

"What's going on?" asked Moka who along with Kurumu climbed down from the chairs to see what's the commotion was about. Tsukune and Lambo were behind them, equally clueless.

"Oh well, this guy," said the president pointing at Tsuna." says he got an eyeful of your panties." the girls instantly reddened in embarrassment, along with Tsukune. Lambo continued to chew his candy.

"What are you talking about?" demanded Tsuna as he grabbed Gin by his collar, teeth clenching in anger. The older student didn't dare do anything, caught flatfooted by the sudden show of strength. "It was you pervert, who was doing it-" he cut himself off, his free hand moving on instinct and catching the hand that was about to slap him. His eyes widened he turned towards his attacker."What are you-?"

It was Moka who tried to slap him. She looked just as surprised for a moment before she looked away embarrassed.

"I...I don't like dirty guys." she told him, not meeting his eyes. She let out a quiet cry of pain when the hand holding her wrist tightened and looked up into her friend's eyes. She gasped at what she saw, causing her to try to take a step back in fright.

Tsuna's eyes never were particularly warm, not even once since she met him. His eyes always spoke of large burdens, pain, and loneliness. Most of the time he viewed the world with a neutral, indifferent gaze as if nothing could happen that would interest him. There were a few times when he looked at her when his eyes lit up with a warm, soft glow but those times were far and few between. But now, he looked at her with eyes she never saw. They were cold, dead and as she gazed at him, she feared him and what he would do. The human boy, who was sarcastic, indifferent, but under all of that a very kind one, who always had time to talk to her. Now, his eyes were of a killer, a monster who only wanted to destroy.

"You are the same as all the others." he murmured so softly, she was the only one who could hear him. He let go of her hand and she instinctively stepped away from him, clutching her aching wrist.

"What's gotten into you?" demanded Kurumu who stepped to Moka's side, placing her arm around her for support.

Tsuna didn't answer, he turned towards Gin who was watching him warily and clutching the hand that was holding him by the collar. Then suddenly the former mafioso spun around with the older student and thrown him into a couple of desks, sending him tumbling down to the floor.

Tsukune stepped towards him, not even himself sure why or what he wanted to do, but stopped when the cold gaze of his friend zeroed on him. For a moment, he thought he stood against another Youkai, something simply not human. Then Tsuna began to walk towards the door, ignoring Tsukune as he passed him, the young human unable to even turn his head, frozen in fear.

"See if I care anymore." he growled as he stopped by the door. "No more. I'm out of here!" with that he slammed the door behind him.

The room descended into silence, Kurumu hugging Moka who was looking fearfully in the direction her friend went, while Tsukune helped up Gin who winced a little. The silence was broken when Lambo jumped on his feet at ran after Tsuna.

"Guess, this is it for today. Let's continue tomorrow after everyone calmed down." said the president gingerly touching his head. With soft agreements Moka, Kurumu, and Tsukune began to leave as well, none of them noticing Gin's pleased smile.

-0-

He had no idea where he was going, but he had to leave. Leave and get as far away from them before he hurt someone. His anger was boiling under his skin, threatening to overwhelm him and unleash all those negative emotions he tried his hardest to repress since he was a little kid.

Other students who saw him tried desperately to get out of his way, like frightened children. Part of him hoped one of them would cause trouble, threaten him, give him a reason to fight, to let loose. But they didn't and without anything else to occupy him Tsuna's mind drifted to what happened a few minutes before.

She was supposed to be different. He let himself hope, he let himself believe that she would be different. That she wouldn't leave him the first chance she got and what does she do? But she just like all the rest. Like his classmates in middle school, his guardians, his father! She is just another backstabber. No more. No more will be used, no more will he even trust anyone but himself. NO MORE!

Tsuna clutched his head as he staggered into a wall, his legs giving out as he slid down to the floor. The world around him kept spinning, his body felt so hot like it was literally on fire and all he could hear was someone signing. It was a beautiful, but also very sad song. He felt his eyelids slowly closing, feeling all his strength leave his body.

"Tsuna-nii!" he faintly heard Lambo call out to him, but he was far too gone to react. All he could do was stare blankly at the figure who seemed to stand before him, looking down on him. He was a rather short man, with a thin body that didn't make him look intimidating at all. He had shoulder-length black hair and emotionless black eyes. He wore a finely made Italian suit, looking like the poster child for mafioso. He was grinning smugly at him, gesturing at a very familiar ring on his right hand.

"Massino...Von...gola..." Tsuna ground out before losing consciousness.

-0-

Miyamoto Haiji was always an early riser. Thanks to his dedication to his training, hours before dawn he was already up and warming up. When the first rays of the sun broke through the clouds he was already in the karate club's dojo going through various techniques. Though he was just a second year, thanks to his strength and diligence he was already the president.

Though he didn't let any of the members slack off, he also didn't expect them to adhere to his own admittedly strict regiment, so it was usually only him who was here this time of day. Though he would have liked to have a good sparring partner.

"Excuse me for the intrusion." said a quiet voice, causing Haiji to internally wince. He didn't sense anybody coming in, whoever it was, he was good at erasing his presence.

He looked to the side towards the entrance where a first-year was standing. He had an unassuming face, brown hair, and brown eyes that seemed to stare into his soul. He was a little pale but as he took off his shoes and stepped in, Haiji could see his moves were firm and strong, he had a lithe build to him. He didn't let it fool him, he learned that appearances were deceiving especially with monsters.

"Good morning- It's rare to see someone other than me here so early." he greeted the underclassman good-naturedly."You are not a club member are you?" he asked face slowly turning serious, though he knew the answer very well. Yesterday was the first day the clubs met with the new arrivals and he made sure to remember all the new members' faces.

The other teen nodded with a blank face, before bowing though his eyes never left his.

"No, my name is Sawada Tsunayoshi, first year." he introduced himself."You are Miyamoto Haiji-senpai?" he nodded in answer, crossing his arms in front of his chest, waiting to hear why he wanted to see him. The younger boy sheepishly scratched his head, the blank look on his face finally disappearing."The thing is, back home I had a friend" at the world friend his face darkened for a moment before it disappeared into a blank look once again, but Haiji caught it." who was into boxing and we had frequent spars. Since the year began I became more and more restless. I tried out some exercises, but it wasn't just the same. I asked about who I could spar with from time to time and I was directed toward you." he finished with a small, but genuine grin."Care for a friendly spar, senpai?"

"You want to spar with me?" he wondered out. Few wanted to spar with him, because of his dedications and simple overwhelming strength. He simply didn't believe in holding back."I'm not known for holding back." he said, though his body subconsciously slipped into a stance.

"Wouldn't be a point to that." said the boy grinning, taking his own stance. It was not one he recognized, even though Haiji saw quite a few martial arts to this day."My friend was incapable of holding back, so it suits me fine. Ready when you are, senpai."

Even though the kid looked like he would be blown away by a gentle breeze, Haiji couldn't help but smirk. He often followed his guts, and now it told him, that it would be quite an interesting fight.

"Bring it on."

-0-

"Tsuna-san already left?" asked Tsukune crestfallen. Lambo only nodded sleepily in answer, leaning on the doorframe.

The human decided to check on his friend early morning, to see if his training would continue and also talk with the other teen. He personally didn't think Tsuna peeped on the girls, from what he'd seen from him didn't indicate he would do anything like this. Still, his reactions were very extreme. And that presence, he couldn't find a better word to describe it, was something very frightening. He hadn't even met a single monster, with the exception of vampire Moka who could terrify him like that.

"What made him react so violently?" he asked more from himself, than from Lambo, though the young boy decided to answer in a small voice.

"He was like this ever since that time.." Lambo trailed off, eying the black-haired boy uncertainly." ever since he lost his fire.."

"His fire?" asked Tsukune incredulously, before noticing Lambo had dozed off, leaning on the door, drool coming out of his mouth. With a sigh, he scooped up the seven-year-old kid and went to Tsuna's room, and placed him on the bed. After making sure Lambo would be alright, Tsukune left, closing the door behind him, thinking about what he heard.

'Lambo said he lost his fire.' thought Tsukune as he slowly walked towards the school. 'Come to think of it, I never saw Tsuna-san use the dying will bullet, he only fired it at me. Maybe there is a reason for that aside from placing me in embarrassing situations?' his musings were cut off when a voice called out to him.

"Good morning Tsukune-kun!" greeted Kurumu with a small smile, but a little subdued than normal.

She was walking with Moka, gently supporting the vampire. Kurumu herself looked a little tired. If he remembered right, she said something about having a sleepover to cheer Moka up after what happened in the club. Though from the looks of it, it was not as successful as either Kurumu or Tsukune hoped.

Moka looked unlike herself. Her hair was messy, there were dark rings under her eyes, she looked like she didn't get much sleep. He looked away in sadness for her or himself, he didn't know. Yesterday, Moka was devastated when Tsuna stormed out and it took both him and Kurumu to at least console her a little. No matter, how much he wanted to get closer to Moka, the irrefutable proof was before him, Tsuna was more important to her. It's not like he didn't know it before, maybe it was because she always drank Tsuna's blood, but there was a special, deeper connection between them like they understood each other.

"Hey guys." he greeted them weekly. Kurumu beamed at him, giving him one of her hugs, causing him to almost fall over from her momentum, while Moka only gave him a small smile.

"Did you...I mean..." she tried to say, a hopeful look on her face, making him instantly guilty that he didn't have any good news.

"Sorry." he scratched the back of his head. "He left by the time I arrived. Don't worry, we can talk with him after class." he added, Moka giving him a thankful smile in response.

But it looked like luck was not on their side. Tsuna arrived last, just after the teacher, looking worryingly pale, his uniform had a few tears in it and Tsukune even spotted a bruise forming on his arm. Both he and Moka tried to catch Tsuna's eyes during lessons, but he refused to look in their direction. He skillfully dodged them after class, quickly disappearing in the halls. Likewise, they couldn't find him during lunch break and Moka looked even worse because she did not have any appetite. Soon their classes ended for the day and they once again lost sight of Tsuna.

Disheartened, Moka simply asked to be left alone for a bit, while Tsukune began to walk towards the newspaper club, in the vain hope that Tsuna went there. He wasn't even halfway there when he was intercepted by Gin, the older student smiling kindly at him.

"Hey there, Tsukune-kun." greeted him the older student." Lucky, I found you in time."

"Gin-senpai." greeted him Tsukune, automatically bowing a little, before his words registered."What do you mean in time?" he asked bewildered.

"Today's club activities will be held outside." explained Gin, while he began to lead him away."I already caught the girls and told them about it, then I went and searched for you so you won1t be left out."

"Thank you, senpai." said Tsukune, before a relevant thought came into his mind."Did you also talk with Tsuna-san?" he asked a bit hopefully, hoping at least someone caught sight of his elusive friend.

In response, Gin instinctively grabbed the back of his head where he was hurt after Tsuna violently threw him yesterday, before shaking his head.

"That violent guy." he said, actually sounding sad." He came by today and told me he quit the club." he told Tsukune, causing him to gape in disbelief."He told me he already talked with Sensei about this and it's official.

"But why would he...Do we matter so little to him?" Tsukune muttered to himself, looking down in thought, not noticing the sly smirk on the club president's face.

"We're here." said Gin, breaking him out of his thoughts. As Tsukune looked up, he couldn't help but feel unimpressed. They were at the back of the school, in a small alley between buildings, there was nothing interesting there.

"Isn't this just the back of the school." he questioned looking around, feeling a bit wary. There was no one in sight."Is it okay to have our activities here? And where are the girls?"

„Haha, don't worry, everybody will come soon." laughed Gin, though Tsukune wasn't convinced. Something just felt off about the whole thing, starting with the incident between Tsuna and Gin yesterday.

"Shouldn't Moka-san and Kurumu-san be here before us, because you told them before looking for me?" he couldn't help but ask, something telling him that not everything was what it seemed. That was one of the things he learned from this school.

"There we are." said Gin, completely ignoring the question."Look over there, there's a little window up there." he pointed towards a window, that had a conveniently placed box placed underneath to help peek in."Why don't you peek inside?"

"What? Why?" asked Tsukune, confused.

"Don't worry about it, it' s not gonna bite you. It'll be interesting." assured the older student, pushing the human toward the window.

Tsukune stopped before it, hearing sounds of people talking, making him even more suspicious. He hesitated, feeling something amiss. He remembered Tsuna telling him to don't trust his eyes, trust in his guts when unsure.

Meanwhile, Gin turned his back towards Tsukune, as if checking if anyone was coming.

"One more thing." he said when he noticed he has yet to even stand on the box. "Moka-san is even better than I heard, you know. I really like her." he declared, Tsukune turning in surprise. Gin didn't look at him, but he still had something sinister in his eye, causing Tsukune to subtly back away from the window. "She even got me falling in love, at first sight." he looked straight at Tsukune, a confident grin on his face. "I'm serious. I'm gonna make Akashiya Moka my woman. And nothing is gonna stand in my way." he took a threatening step, causing the human to unconsciously ready himself for a fight.

"I don't really understand what are you planning, but guess I'll have to miss today's club activity." Tsukune told him, desperately wishing for Tsuna to pop up and hit him with a dying will bullet. Seeing no other choice he rushed forward, intending to run past Gin and find Tsuna. But before he could pass the older student he felt a blow connect with his stomach faster than he could even see, making him fall down to his knees.

He looked up only to see Gin smirking down at him smugly.

"This is the girl's changing room, you know." he told him, his hands in his pockets, acting like he didn't just punch him a moment before."And peeping is a crime Tsukune-kun." Tsukune tried to say something in protest, but Gin continued. "I'll stop at nothing to get a woman in the palm of my hand. So I need you to stay away for a bit." before the human could reach he grabbed him by his collar and thrown him against the wall, alerting the girls changing inside."See you later, Tsukune-kun." then Gin disappeared as if he was never there in the first place.

By the time Tsukune was able to get his bearings and try to stand up, he was surrounded by a horde of half-dressed, furious girls holding all sorts of weapons from a broom to a bokken and even a hairdryer.

"Wait, it's a misunderstanding." he tried to talk to them, but they ignored him and advanced on him."Help!" he cried out, various males in the school wincing in sympathy.

-0-

After a very painful beating, the girls tied him up before stringing him up on a tree, in an abandoned part of the school and leaving him there. His face was full of bruises, they showed him no mercy, even kicking him a few times after he lost consciousness for the first time. Even now, just staying awake was taking almost all of his energy.

"Why are you hanging like that?" asked a young voice, causing Tsukune to blearily open his eyes. Lambo stood before him, looking up at him curiously while loudly chewing some kind of candy."Are you a pinata?" he asked hopefully with wide eyes, causing the human to sweatdrop.

"Of course I'm not a pinata!" cried out Tsukune, causing Lambo to let out a shocked 'Gyupaa'."Can you let me down, Lambo-kun?" he asked with more calm than he currently felt. Before Lambo could answer a new voice cut in.

"Oi, Lambo. Where did you wander off?" asked Tsuna as he leisurely walked closer to them, stopping and tilting his head at the sight of Tsukune."Why are you hanging like that?" he asked a little confused.

"Tsuna-san." he breathed in relief, though he had to blink at how different he looked. His vest was undone and the top of his shirt was also open. He was pale, paler than he was in the morning, yet he seemed to sweat like there was no tomorrow."Never mind that, we have to help Moka-san! It's Gin-senpai. He said he wants to make Moka his, that's why he peeped on her yesterday and framed you. He wants her and he isn't afraid to hurt anyone for it. Please, you have to help her or-" he pleaded but was cut off by Tsuna.

"Why should I care?" he shouted at him instantly furious, shocking the black-haired teen. His eyes were unfocused like he couldn't see Tsukune before him, but something else instead." Why should I do anything? It's always like this. Make nice while I'm useful, then stab me in the back the first chance they get." he shook his head furiously, and gripped his right hand as if he was fighting with himself. Then after a moment, his shoulders seemed to sag and his movements stilled. He looked directly at Tsukune, his eyes were cold and unforgiving. "I'm out of here." with that he walked away, Lambo scrambling to keep up.

"Tsuna-san!" he called out in alarm. "Please, Tsuna-san!" he cried out, but Tsuna didn't seem to hear him, leaving him alone, still hanging on the tree.

-0-

He had no idea what was going with him, but he had to get away before he hurt someone. His body felt as if it was literally on fire, he had trouble walking straight, let alone think. And when he couldn't think it was the worst. He felt as if he had no control over his own body like he was becoming trapped in his own mind. He thought if he was tired, exhausted it would help but it was only temporary. His morning spar with Haiji helped to keep him grounded for the day, but classes were over and he once again felt whatever was happening to him growing stronger. If he couldn't find something to help he was afraid of what would happen.

He braced himself next to a wall, trying to gather the breath that insisted on escaping him. From the corner of his eye, he caught the smugly grinning face of Massino Vongola but he ignored it. During the day, no matter where he went, where he looked he saw that annoying face of his, waving to him with the hand that held the Vongola ring. He had no idea why, but pretty soon he caught on to the fact that he was nothing more than a hallucination, which was pretty worrying in itself. Usually, he could easily spot an illusion, his intuition letting him see through most of them, and even with stronger ones he knew deep down, it wasn't real. Yet, no matter how hard he tried to convince himself that the figure in the corner of his eye was not real, every sense of his told him the opposite.

His thoughts were cut off when he felt something small hit his shoulder. It didn't hurt at all, so instead of any sudden action, he looked down curiously. It was a candy, a grape candy was lying on the floor next to him. The strangest thing was that candy looked very much like the ones he gave to Lambo.

Suddenly he felt something fly toward him, so he acted on instinct and caught the piece of candy that was thrown at him. He frowned as he looked over the direction it came from and found Lambo glaring at him, tears in his eyes and hand still outstretched.

"What are doing?" his frown deepened as his body began to tense as if it was readying for a fight. He forced his body to relax, it was ridiculous to think Lambo was an enemy. He was annoying, yes, and prone to temper tantrums, but he was still just a little kid. He was not his enemy, he chanted in his head as he felt the urge to fight grow.

„You're not Tsuna-nii!" cried Lambo, much to the former mafioso's shock."Tsuna-nii is kind, he always helps even if he doesn't want to. He takes care of me, and I-pin and Futa, he always smiles! But you are not! You are just like that scarred meanie, who was always shouting, wanting to hurt others around him. You are even worse than Bakadera." finished the young boy, tears, and snot falling freely.

"What are you..." Tsuna started to say, but quickly bit back the angry retorn on the top of his tongue as he realized how much like Xanxus he sounded. Xanxus, who Lambo was comparing him to.

He staggered back in shock, not noticing Lambo run off crying as he contemplated. He was aware he was more distant and bitter, but he felt it was understandable after what happened to him. Still, this anger was shocking even to him. Tsuna gripped his head as a new wave of pain hit him. He knew he was far from alright, his actions spoke for themselves, but it wasn't that but until...until...

"Until yesterday." his eyes widened in realization. He tried to focus, think through what happened yesterday that could've triggered whatever was happening to him. The first meeting of the newspaper club, Gin, and the whole peeking incident... "Ginei..." he growled softly, feeling as if the older student held the answer to his questions. Feeling the pain subside, he took a few shaky steps, shaking his head, trying to clear the cobwebs.

He stopped when he heard a soft growl, causing him to look around, trying to spot where he heard the sound. When he felt something moving in his pocket, his eyes softened as he pulled out a ring from there. It was a simple metal ring, with the face of a lion cub on top of it. The ring seemed to move around a very little, another soft growl coming from out, with a reproaching quality to it.

"I must have fallen quite a lot, for even you to tell me off." said Tsuna with a small smile as he absently put the ring on. The next growl had a pleased feeling to it, with a little bit of smugness. "At least, I still got you, isn't that right old buddy." his former box weapon, Natsu agreed with another soft growl, before falling silent, leaving him to his thoughts.

"Damnit." he cursed as he slowly began to walk towards the school."Guess I have to get involved once again."

-0-

Moka was leaning on the railing of the roof, silently watching the evening sky. The last two days she felt horribly alone, even though she still had Kurumu and Tsukune trying to cheer her up, keeping her company. But it wasn't the same without Tsuna. Tsuna, who was distant, aloof yet always gave small signals to tell he was listening, that he cared. He seemed to understand her more than the others, sympathize with her pain, cheer her up with a few words or a simple act. He was her first friend, the one she felt the most comfortable with and the one who was there for her ever since she came to this school. And his absence hurt more than anything, even the scorn and loneliness she felt in the human world.

She walked up here to the roof, to think for a while. She knew Tsukune and Kurumu meant well, but she needed to be alone for a while. She may not have known him for long, but she felt she knew Tsuna well enough to know that he was acting out of character and she wanted to figure out the reason herself. She felt her rosary warming as her other self tried to talk to her, but she chose to ignore her for now. She kept talking about both Gin and Tsuna being dangerous and staying away from them, but she didn't want to give up on her friend, no matter what was happening to him

"So this is where you were Moka-chan." said a smooth voice, causing Moka to turn around in shock, she didn't hear anyone come up. Gin was walking towards her, hands in his pockets and grinning at her."It's evening already. Look, a beautiful full moon." he said, looking mesmerized on the moon up in the sky.

"Gin-senpai..." she murmured, not feeling comfortable being alone with him, not after what happened between him and Tsuna the other day.

"Did you hear? Your friend Tsukune was caught peeping on the girls changing room and if I heard right he was still being detained." Gin said as he stepped closer to her, Moka not noticing the way his eyes roamed over her." And then that other guy, Tsuna. Getting all violent out of nowhere and then he just goes and quits the club." she looked away in distress, the older student's smirk widening went unnoticed by her.

Gin put his arm around her, pulling her closer to him, though Moka resisted a little, feeling more and more uncomfortable. He smiled down at her, ignoring her fidgeting as he rubbed her shoulders, the scene looking very intimate from the outside.

"Forget about pathetic guys like that. Tonight, I'll console you." he charmingly smiled at her as his hand slowly slid lower, until Moka cried out and tried to push him away, face red from embarrassment.

"No! Let me go!" she cried as she tried to shield her chest from him."What are you doing, senpai?"

"What do you mean? I was just holding you tenderly." Gin continued playing dumb even as he continued to trap her within his arms.

"You just felt me up!" she had enough and stepped on his feet with all her might, causing him to let go as he hopped on one foot. She took a few steps back warily watching him.

Gin stopped nursing his foot, charming smile back in place as he stepped towards Moka, who continued to move back until she bumped into the railing.

"On nights with a full moon, I'm overcome with a feeling of power and lose all control. So let's give in." he put his arms around her, trapping her as he leaned forward intending to kiss her."When I go wild, my sudden urges make me go crazy!"

"No! Stop!" Moka finally had enough and remembered that she still had her vampire strength. She slapped Gin with all her strength, sending the surprised man flying into the nearest wall. Moka stood there panting, all the emotions that she tried to hold back the last two days came pouring out. "Tsuna-kun...he said he didn't peep. So rather than believe you, I'm waiting for him. I want to believe him more than anybody else." she said, tears of sadness and frustration gathering in her eyes.

Gin stood up without any difficulty, shaking the debris that landed on him away, not losing his smile. His face darkened with desire as he eyed her body without any shame.

"Are you serious? How admirable." he chuckled lowly as he straightened out and once again stepped towards the vampire, who this time stood her ground defiantly. "I'm falling for you harder and harder, Moka-san." he made a move towards her but stopped when a small rock struck his head.

"You really are a perverted animal, aren't you?" asked a familiar voice mockingly.

"Sawada Tsuna." growled Ginei as he spotted the figure slowly walking towards them.

"Tsuna-kun?" Moka turned towards the voice with a hopeful look on her face, but it soon gave way to worry as Tsuna reached her. His face was red as if he had a fever and he was panting a little, though it may have been because he ran to reach them in time. Still, he didn't look at all his usual self and she couldn't help but worry about his well-being."Are you alright?" she asked slowly.

His gaze drifted to her, the cold look in his eyes softening for a moment, but she still caught it, before once again facing the older student who has yet to make a move.

"Don't worry I'll be alright. Probably." a soft growl was heard from the direction of his hand, causing him to give out an annoyed puff of air and roll his eyes."Yeah, yeah. Sorry about yesterday. Guess I overreacted." he said as he stepped past her, not breaking eye contact with Gin. "Natsu really likes you for some reason." it was small, but there was a slight upward quirk to his lips.

"Natsu?" she asked, tilting her head in confusion. She already seemed to forget about Gin and his previous advances, feeling oddly safe with Tsuna close by.

"How dare you get in the way of our special moment." Gin growled as he stood up, bored of being ignored. "I told you before, didn't I? That on nights with a full moon my control weakens." he said as he hunched over, his body slowly transforming.

"From what I have seen, you don't have any control no matter the moon's position." quipped Tsuna, masking the unease he felt as energy poured out of the body of the older student. The violent storm that raged around him was nowhere near the raw untapped flames that Moka radiated whenever the seal was lifted, but it was still bad news, coupled with his body's current condition and without access to his own flames. At times like these, he would have liked to be born a lot more uncaring towards others.

"I'll make you my woman by force, Akashiya Moka!" roared Gin fully transformed, now as a humanoid wolf, the light of the full moon shining on his form.

"A werewolf!" cried out Moak in realization. Tsuna didn't react visibly only walking towards the transformed upperclassmen."Wait, Tsuna-kun. You have to take off my rosary."

"No." was the simple answer, making Moka step back in shock. Taking his eyes of the werewolf, Tsuna looked back at her, a small grin on his face. "Call it male pride if you want, but I don't want to use the other you as some kind of monster deterrent." his smile turned a little savage as he once again faced Gin."Besides, I was itching for a good fight."

"So be it. I'll deal with you first." declared Gin before he ran towards Tsuna so fast, he disappeared for a moment. Even so, Tsuna simply turned his body to the side, avoiding the swipe the werewolf sent at him, before countering with a punch that Gin avoided easily.

After this first exchange, the fight began in earnest. Tsuna had to realize quite soon that the werewolf was fast, extremely so. Ginei's speed was comparable to his own speed in hyper dying will state, without the vongola ring, making it very hard for him to keep up. Thankfully his body and reflexes were much better than the regular humans, a simple necessity so he could handle the hyper dying will. This and his intuition helped him keep the fight even, but just could already feel his body slowly, but surely tiring, the blows he couldn't avoid and had to block taking their tolls on him. He also had yet to land a punch, Gin used hit and run tactics, quickly getting away before he could retaliate. The werewolf was cautious, never staying in one place, using his speed to try and confuse the brown-haired teen.

As much he hated to admit, Gin was much stronger than he first anticipated. He had gotten complacent, thought that other than Moka most monsters wouldn't be so powerful, that he could deal with them even without the dying will bullet. But here he was struggling to even keep up and why? Because something was wrong with him, and he made mistake after mistake.

Moka could only watch the fight, feeling powerless to do anything with her powers sealed. Tsuna was always so confident, so sure that it was easy to forget he was a simple human. Mysterious sure, but still without the powers of a monster. Now, this fact was staring at her face, watching her friend's becoming more and more bruised after each failed block. She felt her rosary moving slowly, the other her watching as well.

"Moka-san! Tsuna-san!" cried out a voice, causing all three of them to look up, stopping the fight for a moment. Kurumu was in the air in her monster form, Tsukune dangling from her arms. Lambo was also there, desperately clutching onto Tsukune's legs.

"What are you doing here?" growled Gin, causing the three newcomers to take note of his transformed state.

"Is that senpai?" asked a shocked Tsukune as they touched down on the roof.

"Scary dog!" cried Lambo hiding behind Kurumu.

"Be careful Tsukune. Werewolves are strong monsters said to be equal to vampires." she warned him as she took note of a still sealed Moka standing to the side and the beaten-up Tsuna.

"What are you doing idiots? Grab Moka and get out of here." Tsuna made the mistake to take his eyes off of Gin for a minute and he paid for it dearly. Using the lapse in attention, he quickly closed the distance between them, sending a powerful punch to the human's chest. He was hit with so much force that Tsuna fell into the rail, his legs shaking, barely able to stand up.

"Tsuna-kun!" cried Moka and tried to run to him but was held back by Kurumu and Tsukune, because Gin was in front of them smirking widely at Moka.

"Now that the distraction has been dealt with, time to finish what we started Akashiya Moka." he started walking towards them but stopped to catch a small rock that was thrown at him. "You again?" he growled, seeing Tsuna stand up and smirking at him. Though the image was ruined by the small trickle of blood that escaped his mouth.

„You got to do better than that, wolf-boy." he said confidently as he wiped away the small trail of blood from his mouth and took his stance. Unknown to all but him, this battle was his loss. He felt it clearly, that at least one of his ribs were broken and it wasn't as if his body was in a top condition before the fight. He could posture all he wanted, but he was out of options Unless...

His eyes slid to Moka and the others watching worriedly and shook his head to clear his thoughts. He couldn't enter dying will mode himself, right now it would be less than useless and he also couldn't fire one at Tsukune because of the risk the skull disease carried. He could try to unseal Moka, but doubtlessly Gin would try to stop him, so it couldn't work without a distraction. He cursed himself for not releasing her sooner, he shouldn't have underestimated the second year. That left him with only one option.

„Tsuna-san!" cried out Tsukune, who had enough standing only sidelines. He ran forward to the werewolf intent on attacking him, or at least distracting him but before he could register Gin already punched him, sending him back flying to the girls. He landed in front of them in a heap, groaning in pain.

„Tsukune." Kurumu and Moka called out to him, kneeling down at their side. Tsuna had enough of it and decided to gamble everything on his last resort plan.

„Lambo!" he called out to the shaking boy with a rarely heard authority in his voice, the 'boss' voice as dubbed by Reborn. "Use the bazooka on me, now!" he yelled as he rushed towards Gin, the werewolf only smirking in what he imagined was a sure victory for him.

„But-" the boy protested even if he moved his hand towards his hair. After their fight in the future against Byakuran, they took great care to teach him to use the bazooka cautiously. They did not want anything like that ever happen again, no matter how remote the possibility was. Still, even though Lambo was reluctant, soon he had the familiar pink weapon on his shoulders, trying to aim correctly.

Once Dino joked that whenever Tsuna used his boss voice, people around him couldn't help but follow his orders without question. He thought he wasn't serious, until one time where the Varia and his guardians were left alone and destroyed a whole hotel while waiting for him. When he arrived back to see nothing but destruction, he was so pissed that he yelled at them until he was hoarse and then told them to clean up. Later, he would find it very funny, how even Xanxus was dutifully cleaning up with a shell-shocked look on his face.

"Just do it!" yelled out Tsuna as Gin swiped at him. He lowered his body, anticipating the move, and ran past the surprised werewolf. Lambo following his orders fired the bazooka, a small missile heading towards Tsuna. Gin attempted to intercept him, not knowing what that weapon could do, but he was too late.

A pink cloud enveloped Tsuna's form.

-0-

Though it was only his second trip through time, Tsuna could already tell he would never like this nauseating feeling that involved it. For a long moment, he didn't know where was up and down, he closed his eyes because the swirling lights just caused him a headache. He didn't know if he was falling or rising, but he knew that it felt like an eternity passed before he arrived whenever his future self was, ten years later.

But instead of staying on his feet, he landed on a bed a little more roughly than his beat-up body would have liked. He let out a pained groan as he decided to lay around for a minute, just until he finds the strength to get up and look at what sort of future he had now. That was until a plan until he heard an amused chuckle right next to him.

"I almost forgot how cute you were back then." a husky, seductive voice reached him, causing him to instantly stiffen, opening his eyes wide trying to look around. He could only glimpse a wooden ceiling before a feminine hand obscured his vision. "No peeking." told the voice, far too amused by him.

He tried to struggle, to get up but his weakened body stood no chance. To make matters worse, he felt a body drape over him, holding him down and from the curves he felt, it was definitely a woman. To make the blush forming on his face all the worse, from what he could gather without the use of his eyes, the woman laying on him hardly had any clothing on her.

"Oh, look at you blushing. It is just so delightful. Nowadays you blush so rarely." cooed a voice, her free hand caressing his face, prompting an even larger blush Tsuna.

"Who are you? What-" he tried to ask, but a finger was pressed on his lips, silencing him.

"Hush. The future you told me to make sure you don't learn much of your future if you ever get switched." she told him, the finger leaving his lips and slowly, began to trail down towards his neck. Tsuna squirmed as his body reacted to her presence, despite him trying not to. "You said you don't want to influence yourself with a potential future, least you decide to do something drastic and dangerous like someone called Irie." she said, though she seemed a little uncertain at the end, though he instantly remembered about Irie Shoichi who inadvertently caused Byakuran to awaken his powers and almost destroyed their future. But he also remembered him after the inheritance ceremony, telling him that he remembered the future with Byakuran and promising to help him if he ever needed his help. Before he left for the youkai academy they met once again, Shoichi telling him that he was leaving to meet up with Spanner and giving him his contact information.

"That makes sense." he mumbled a little distracted as he felt his insides practically melt from the fire that burned inside of him. It was easier to ignore when he had something else to focus on, namely fighting against Gin, but now, with his body weaker than ever, he was genuinely afraid. The pain and the anger were too much, he felt as if he was slowly dying over and over and he wanted it all to end.

He felt a cool hand caress his face, his neck before the woman above him leaned even closer.

"It's already started to affect you, isn't it?" she asked a little sadly before she placed a small kiss on his neck much to Tsuna's confusion. "You should have let younger me suck your blood more often, you know?" she teased before he felt a small pain in his neck, gasping more from the realization than the pain. The voice was familiar, very familiar, but he couldn't place it anywhere up until now. It was Moka's voice, but not the one he usually spent time with, her voice resembled more of the released Moka.

He didn't bother to struggle, though he was not sure why. Maybe he was too weak to resist, or maybe he trusted her that much, which was hard to considering his issues with trust. Still, there was always something about this Moka that put him at ease in a strange way.

As Moka was taking her time with drinking from him, Tsuna noticed another strange thing. He felt himself grow tired, a natural reaction to losing so much of his blood, but his turbulent emotions that were getting harder and harder to rein in seemed to simply drain out of him. Similarly, the fire that threatened to burn him out from within receded, giving way to a coolness that relaxed his tense body. He had no idea what was going in, but he felt better than he did in the past days.

"Delicious as always." she cooed from above him as she stopped her meal."This is only a temporary solution, but drinking your blood should keep down the dying will flames from burning you out. You should also check that charm of yours. Your old teacher left you with a small surprise." her fingers began to trail down to his chest, sending shivers down on his spine that had nothing to do with being afraid."Oh, the five minutes are almost up." she added sadly, though she did not stop with her ministrations at all.

"You are awfully chatty, despite my older self telling you not to tell anything." he couldn't help but say that, even as he fought to keep his body to show any reaction, knowing deep down that it would only encourage her.

"I'm a very, very bad girl." Future Moka told him with a teasing voice, just as she took her hand off of his eyes. Tsuna could only get one glance at the mesmerizing red eyes before his vision was obscured again, his body feeling weightless, no doubt he was going back to his time."Don't keep me waiting too long." he heard call out one last time, though he had no idea what she was talking about.

-0-

"Tsuna-kun!" Moka cried out worriedly as her friend disappeared inside a cloud of pink smoke. Kurumu and Tsukune could only look on in shock while Lambo lowered the bazooka, biting his lips in worry as he watched.

"I don't know what kind of trick is that, but you can't fool me this easily." boasted Gin, and using his speed he rushed at the figure stepping out of the smoke. He tried to punch him, but the figure easily stepped out of the way and tripped the surprised werewolf, sending him to fall down on his face.

"Still rushing without a single thought, senpai?" asked Tsuna amused, but his voice was different somehow.

Moka and the others gasped in shock as he stepped out of the smoke, revealing he also looked different. He was a little taller, his hair longer and if it was possible even messier, his face thinner, more mature. Instead of the school uniform, he wore a very fine-looking suit over a simple white shirt that fit well on his now slightly broader shoulders.

Still, even more than the clothing or the voice the most different thing about him was the air he carried himself. His posture was relaxed, his face was much more open and expressive than any of them save for Lambo ever saw. He walked towards them completely comfortable in his skin, a pleased smile on his face that just wasn't like the Tsuna they knew.

"That look on you, how nostalgic." he said, his voice a little deeper as he stopped in front of Moka. That soft look in his eyes sent butterflies flying in her stomach, causing her to blush even from his proximity. She started to imitate a tomato when he absentmindedly grabbed a lock of her hair and studied it, as if he found it unusual, before he placed the lock behind her ear, caressing her face as he pulled away.

"Tsuna-kun." she breathed, not knowing what to say, but wanting to make sure he was who she thought he was. He only smiled in response before looking down at her rosary which seemed to shake a little, trying to communicate something. His smile grew founder as he reached down and caressed the rosary just as he did to her face, causing the center of the seal to redden in response.

"It was a while since I even thought about these peaceful days." he commented to Moka, a slight longing in his voice.

"Tsuna-san?" called out Tsukune a little disbelievingly as he limped over them leaning on Kurumu. The older Tsuna looked at them with a little wonder.

"Tsukune and Kurumu? It must be really early days for me." he commented to himself, further confusing his audience.

"What is going on?" asked Kurumu at last, getting fed up in being left in the dark.

"It's Lambo's youkai power." he explained with a smile, though Moka and Tsukune quickly realized he was lying through his teeth."He can swap someone with their future self from ten years later for five minutes. Since he had a hard time controlling it, his family made him that bazooka so he could safely direct its effects. Though it is a dangerous power so he uses it as little as possible, from what I remembered my younger self was in desperate need of help." Kurumu nodded in understanding, but it was easy to tell from her face she felt totally lost."Speaking of which," Tsuna's gaze shifted to Lambo who standing not far from them nervously. He walked to him and knelt before the young boy."Thank you for sticking by grumpy, young me." he patted his head causing Lambo to with a cry rush forward and hug him with all his strength.

"Tsuna-nii!" he wailed as the older man returned the embrace.

"There, there. Everything will be fine, Lambo." he said calmly, handling the young boy with surprising care. Lambo soon calmed down and stepped away, rubbing his eyes and looking away, embarrassed.

"Are finally done?" growled their almost forgotten club president as he finally stood up."You may be from the future, but it won't help you. I'll defeat you and make Akashiya Moka my woman!" he declared for the nth time that day.

Tsuna only smiled at him bemused.

"Come now. We know how it will end. You try to attack me, I defeat you and in the end, you will rethink your life choices. Make things easier for everyone and skip right to the end." he told him with a smile, further angering the werewolf.

"As if! In a night with a full moon, a werewolf is invincible." Gin said before with a roar he started to run around them in a zigzag pattern, using his incredible speed to disappear in a blink. Moka and the others looked around confused, trying to spot him, but could only catch his fading afterimages. Tsuna, on the other hand, was standing there calmly with his eyes closed, looking like he had no care in the world. "Got you!" roared Gin in triumph as he appeared behind him, sending a punch at him. Tsukune who noticed him too tried to shout a warning, but it was not needed. Without looking behind him Tsuna reached out and grabbed the werewolf's wrist stopping in his tracks. "What the-? How did you?" asked Gin flabbergasted, prompting Tsuna to look over at him smiling, pointing at the sky. All of them looked up, seeing the full moon obscured by clouds. "I can't use my full powers if the moon is out." it slipped out before he could stop it, causing the others to mentally face-palm at him.

"What kind of weakness is that?" asked Tsukune, feeling completely flabbergasted.

"It is kind of lame." agreed Kurumu, an invisible arrow striking Gin in the chest with the words lame.

"Don't be hasty!" he said, shrugging off the mental damage. "I can still beat you with or without moonlight. I'll show you what the natural energy of a monster is." he boasted, though they could still see he was struggling to get out of the grip Tsuna had on him.

"Sure, you do." he said with a mocking smirk before tightening his grip, electing a small cry of pain. He suddenly pulled the werewolf towards him, kneeing him in the stomach."Know your place!" he roared, punching Gin in the face with his free hand, some kind of energy erupting from him, sending him flying away, off the roof.

The others could only look shocked, completely surprised by the turn of events, until Lambo let out a huge cheer."Do it again!"

"If that was impressive, just wait for the fights in the near future." told him Future Tsuna cryptically, subtly shaking his numbed hand. "The five minutes are almost up, so I should be going. See you!" he told them as he turned away and began to walk towards the end of the roof. They called after him, but he only turned back when a sudden thought struck his mind. "Before I forget, do watch out for-" his words were cut off as he was engulfed by a pink cloud. As it dissipated, the younger, bruised form of Tsuna was revealed.

He was looking a little more disheveled than the last time they saw him. He spun around in surprise, spotting them before his legs gave out and fallen on his back.

"Tsuna-kun!" alarmed, Moka ran to his side with Kurumu and Lambo, Tsukune limping behind them."Are you alright?" she asked as she kneeled at his side.

"Never better." he chuckled softly, but it ended up in a pained groan, much to Moka's worry."This is the last time I used the bazooka. The future is...confusing." he said uncertainly as he opened his eyes and looked around at the worried faces of his...friends? Maybe he should begin to call them friends. "Where is pervert-senpai?" he asked calmly, feeling actually much better than he felt in days despite his wounds. Whatever the future Moka did to him was helping a lot.

"The older you punched him off the roof." explained Tsukune while he smiled, relieved that it was over.

"Convenient." Tsuna said blankly, before eying Moka who was clutching his right hand with tears gathering in her eyes. "Sorry about being an idiot." he told her, too embarrassed to meet her face.

"Sorry about believing that you would peep." she lightly caressed the back of his hand with her thumb, relaxing his still tense body. Tsuna desperately tried not to blush at the soothing feeling.

"Next time, let's try talking first?" he asked her with a slight grin, Moka giving an enthusiastic nod. "Then I'll go sleep then." he said, placing his head down on the floor, trying to find a comfortable position.

Hearing the others laugh around him with amusement and Moka telling him to at least go back to his dorm, he couldn't help but feel whole for a small moment. Like he was once again the Tsuna he was supposed to be, not that broken mess that taken to masquerade as him.

-0-

"Extra! Extra from the newspaper club." Kurumu and Tsukune called out to students going to classes, passing out papers to them.

They spent the early hours of the morning to make a paper about Tsukune's innocence in peeping on the girls and revealing Gin's true nature to the unknowing girl population. Well, Moka, Kurumu, and Tdsukune did spend most of the time working on the paper, while Lambo worked on a coloring book and Tsuna napped. It could be argued that the brown-haired teen did help if you count his not always helpful half-asleep mutterings.

"Though I never excepted that this would become the newspaper club's first job." commented Tsukune as he gave out the last of the papers on him. He could already hear a feminine cry for war from the other end of the school and also the cries of a certain werewolf.

"Justice prevails isn't that right?" asked Kurumu, smiling brightly at him. Tsukune was very glad of her presence, she believed in him when everyone said he was a peeper and also helped treat his injuries. It was good to know that when he thought she was not a bad person, he was very right. "Though next time he has to help out or I will do something." she said in mock-anger, pointing at Tsuna who was sitting contently in place.

Moka was placing a copy of their paper on the notice board, standing on the top of a desk. Tsuna was sitting on the same desk, facing the other way, resting. He looked already much better than he did yesterday, his mood swings also mostly disappeared. It looked like things were about to fall into their normal rhythm.

"I've had enough of pervert already. So no peeking." she said with a slight blush to Tsuna who only laughed in response.

"Don't worry. Promise." he said, leaning back. He had too many questions to find answers for, a lot of things looked uncertain, but right here, right now he felt happy. He felt like he was where he was supposed to be, something he didn't feel for a long while.

-0-

"Good night, Tsuna-san, Lambo-kun." Tsukune bid them goodbye as he went to his room. Tsuna absentmindedly waved at him too tired to say anything, while Lambo completely ignored him, busy eating a candy, apple favored for once.

They finished handing out the first paper they made as a club, no matter how ironical that they were doing a reveal on their club president and each of them went their way, completely spent, especially Tsukune and him, who were still recovering from their respective injuries.

'I should probably warn Tsukune that his training restarts tomorrow.' he thought to himself as he opened his door, but soon shrugged his shoulders in his mind.'Nah, he will learn about it when I start throwing grenades on him.'

Tsuna stepped into his room and immediately froze. He couldn't tell just by looking but something was out of place and he just knew it. With a silent hand sign, he told Lambo to stay put as he slowly inched inside, his hand reaching to his gun in instinct.

"Greetings, Sawada-dono." a quiet, musical voice greeted him, confirming his suspicion of someone already in there. Knowing that it would be no use to hide he boldly stepped into the main part of his dorm room, trying to block Lambo from the figure standing in the middle of his room.

She was a girl around his age, dressed in a violet cheongsam which had flower motifs on it in lighter violet color. She had long black hair tied in a bun behind her head, held up by two elegant pins. A few strands escaped the bun, framing her violet eyes. Overall she was very pretty, especially in the body-hugging dress she wore.

Tsuna still ignored all of that, instead of sending her a glare. She stood in a neutral pose, her hand at her side, no threatening move on her part. He saw no weapons on her, or anyone else in the room, but he knew better than something like to reassure him. He almost pulled out his gun when she suddenly bowed to him, reaching an impressive 90 degrees with her body, her head low.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Sawada-dono."


	5. Peaceful days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of normalcy for the gang as they go through the greatest challenge, the midterms

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I saw on some fanfics that at the start of each chapter there would be a description of a cover, like in mangas and I thought I would try it out. What do you guys think? Here's a sample for this chapter:
> 
> Cover: In the background, Tsukune was running away from a large lion while Tsuna and Outer Moka sat in the front at a table. Tsuna was dressed like Reborn and was drinking coffee, while Moka was dressed in the Namimori Middle's uniform and blissfully eating a strawberry cake.

Tsuna glared coldly at the figure bowing before him. The Chinese girl has yet to lift her head following her greeting, showing no hostile intentions, though he was well aware of how deceptive appearances can be.

"Lambo." the young boy turned towards him, but he kept his eyes on their guest."Go to Moka's room and sleep there for tonight. Tell her I will explain everything tomorrow."

"But-" Lambo tried to protest Tsuna cut him off.

"Go!" he growled, frightening the young boy. The fire beneath his skin receded slightly after his small trip to the future, but it was still there, feeding on his anger. The anger he had a harder time controlling than he would have liked.

His former guardian scampered away, quickly gathering his things before leaving. Neither Tsuna nor his unannounced guest moved until they heard the front door close.

"Guess I should offer you tea or something?" offered Tsuna sarcastically, warily watching the girl in front of him.

"Not at all, Sawada-dono. Allow me to take care of it." she said in a respectful tone as she raised her head, showing indigo eyes that matched her clothes. Before he could react in any way, suddenly there was a simple table between them, with two cups of steaming tea on it.

Tsuna narrowed his eyes as he cautiously sat down before her, subtly examining the illusion before him. Ever since the fight against Byakugan, he got very good at getting the feel of flames, able to spot differences even from the smallest amounts. That's why he could feel even the dormant flames from stronger youkai like Moka.

Thanks to this, he was able to tell, that the girl before him used no youkai energy, only pure mist flames. What was even more surprising that he could feel the high-quality of her flames, even though he could see no ring on her to amplify the flames. That told him two things: the girl was probably human and she was very strong.

"Which Family sent you and what for? You should be well aware of how little I mean to the Vongola." he stated bluntly, well aware of his own position in the eyes of the mafia. "The omerta is the only reason I'm still considered part of the Mafia. So what would be the point of you visiting me here in this little school, totally separated from the rest of the world?" he asked curiously, also looking for signs if the girl sitting before him knew the exact nature of the school.

"Allow me to clarify, Sawada-dono. "she said respectfully, her stoic expression not leaving her face." I do not represent any family. I only came to deliver an offer from my Mistress. She has several connections with various Mafia Families, the Triads and even a select few Youkai factions." his eyes widened a little at the last one, though he was quick to mask the expression from his face. But he had a feeling the girl saw it anyway, Mists tended to notice little details easier than most." You could call her a neutral identity. "

"And who is this Mistress of yours? What does she want from me?" Tsuna was still suspicious, an unknown variable was even more dangerous to him than the known dangers the mafia represented.

"She is known by many names, but among the mafia, she is mostly known as La Mercante della verità. Her offer is a simple invitation to visit her shop and she would like to extend the hope that she can do profitable business with you in the future." she slowly, carefully pulled out a business card, taking great care to make all of her moves easily seen. In the back of his mind, Tsuna found it a little insulting that she treated him as if he was a frightened or wounded animal. Ignoring his stray thoughts, he looked at the card that was placed in front of him. It was a simple card, with the name 'Treasures of the seven worlds' written curved letter in the middle and an address beneath him. What was curious, the shop was in the human world, the outskirts of Tokyo in fact, which was strange considering this mistress's apparent connection to the mafia and the triad. And he also doubted that the youkai were based in Tokyo.

"What would I have that your mistress would need?" gone were the days when he was able to trust any strange figure who popped up in his life, no matter how much he yearned for those naive days.

"I'm not privy to the thoughts of my mistress, though she is eager to meet you, Sawada-dono." she replied diplomatically, completely dodging the question."Though she told me to convey that among the many wonders in her shop, she also in possession of the antidote of the deadly skull disease, the angel disease."

Tsuna narrowed his eyes at the last bit. It confirmed that this mysterious merchant was keeping tabs on him for a while. His mind quickly jumped to conclusions, thinking about all the info she may have on him and those close to him and the number of ways it cod be used to blackmail him. He had to restrain the sudden burst of anger at the thought of coming to any harm onto his friends.

The girl ignored the barely masked killing intent aimed at her and instead stood up and bowed to him. As she straightened up, he could already see her form was slowly becoming hazier, the illusion was beginning to dissipate.

"We will await your visit at your convenience. May we have a mutually beneficial partnership, Vongola Decimo." with her last words she disappeared along with the table and every other evidence of her presence, leaving Tsuna alone, sitting dumbfounded in the dark room.

She called him Decimo and for the life of him, he couldn't figure out why. She had to know about what happened at the inheritance ceremony, yet she still used that title. Why?

That question kept him awoke most of the night.

-0-

"Tsuna-kun?" asked Moka, curiously looking up at the brunette in question.

"Hm?" hummed Tsuna as he absentmindedly turned a page on the textbook he was holding. He was sitting on a branch of a tree while Moka was sitting at the base of it, looking like he had no care in the world.

It was a few weeks after his fight with Gin and things finally calmed down. Gin and Tsuna mutually ignored each other most of the time, not having the energy to deal with the other with the midterm exams closing in. He still sparred with Haiji in the karate club's dojo every few days to keep himself sharp. He also started to meet with Moka early morning every day, so she could get her daily blood dose and he could get his 'treatment' so to speak, even if he still had more questions than answers about his own condition. He got frustrated so much with this mystery that he even considered reaching out to a few old allies.

"Is this a normal training regiment for that...that human power of yours?" her question pulled him away from his wandering thoughts, making him look at her curiously. This was new, he was getting more and more comfortable around her.

Ever since the ceremony, Tsuna tended to stay away from people. He felt uncomfortable around too many people, his paranoia instantly acting up. He also felt that no one needed Dame-Tsuna around, so he rather stuck to the shadows than be bullied once again.

Yet, ever since he met her, he tolerated hers and Tsukune's presence because she was interesting and he felt some kind of kinship with the latter. At least that had been the excuse at first. He began to spend more time around them, took part in the happenings, and even started to care.

After his quick visit to the future, he found himself relaxing in her presence, it had a soothing effect on him. Whenever they talked or just sat silently, he felt a rare peace, he was slowly and surely letting his guard down, the more he spent near her. He loathed to admit it but he was liking it.

He finally looked up from his book and looked at a struggling Tsukune. He had a rope around his waist which was tied to a large tire. On the tire, there was a large fridge with Lambo sitting on the top of it and shouted encouragements at the human boy. He had to drag the whole thing through a small field that was full of landmines that he had the teen plant himself the day before in the name of training. They were not so powerful to worry about any permanent injuries, but still, they left quite a sting. And if Tsukune even thought about stopping, well Lambo was bribed to start throwing grenades at him along with any kind of weaponry he could get his hands on.

Tsuna only watched with apathy as he heard small whimpers of pain from his student, whose body was already sporting quite a few burn marks and other injuries, before turning back to Moka with a carefully blank face.

"There is nothing wrong with that." at the pout she sent his way, he sighed."Trust me, my training was a lot more dangerous than this." he explained, before turning back to his book, only to place it down when he felt Moka reaching up tugging on his jacket.

"But why were you training for?" she asked, a curious look on her face, that Tsuna absently classed as cute."I mean Tsukune trains to be able to defend himself from monsters. So what was so dangerous that you had to train like that?"

"I had monsters of a different kind after me." he closed his eyes, contemplating, before opening them and staring into her eyes, face serious. "I was to take over the family business. And it was not a peaceful profession." he told her, thinking about all the battles he had in the past.

She stared at him, a small smile on her lips. Lately, Tsuna slowly began to open up. He would sometimes share tidbits about his last, a funny memory here, or a few honest answers to her questions. He also became more open with the others. Even if it was a minuscule amount, like tolerating their presence for a second longer or smiling just a little bit more honest. Tsukune and Kurunu probably didn't notice, but she did and she couldn't be happier about it. In response, she also shared more about her past and family with him.

She began to giggle almost hysterically as an interesting thought occurred to her. Tsuna looked down at her, eyebrows lifted in a silent question.

"You are just like my sister, Akua-neechan. She was always so cold and strict on the outside, but whenever it was the two of us she would smile at me and act all cuddly, just like you." she explained, pointing up at him.

Tsuna looked affronted, quickly jumping down from his perch, glaring at the giggling vampire, though there was no heat behind it.

"I am not cuddly." he retorted, but his cheeks warmed up. In the background, Tsukune continued to struggle while Lambo egged him on.

"But you are. Here, I'll show you." Moka said, opening her arms wide as if to hug him.

Before Tsuna could decide if he really wanted to avoid the girl slowly stepping closer to him or not, a loud boom rang out, distracting both of them. Looking in the direction where Tsukune was seen last, all they could see was a lot of smoke and hear Lambo cackling in glee.

"Tsukune!" she cried out in worry as she ran forward towards her other friend. Tsuna quickly grabbed and slowed her down before she could follow Tsukune's example and blow up. Without realizing it, his hand snaked around her waist and he gently led her through the minefield. It also went completely unnoticed by him that the vampire blushed a bright red, before leaning into him.

Reaching the smoking crater, they found Tsukune at the bottom of it, out cold. He looked like a burnt caricature of the human they knew, but Tsuna knew from experience it was nothing serious. Hearing a groan from his student, he turned to Moka with a smile.

"See, he is breathing." the girl simply hit him in the shoulder, rather lightly though it still smarted a bit thanks to her natural strength, and pouted angrily at him. "Okay, okay, I will get him out." muttering about bossy women he jumped down next to the unconscious teen.

-0-

"See nothing to worry about." Tsuna playfully jostled an unconscious Tsukune he carried on his back. The battered human who looked much better than they found him, with only a few scratches and light burns, let out a weak groan in response."I've had worse injuries than this. Give him a band-aid and he will be up in no time."

"There is nothing funny about that. He could have been seriously hurt." Moka continued to pout at him, not at all happy about his training methods. She was carrying a sleeping Lambo in her arms who fell asleep instantly after she worriedly picked him up. "Lambo-kun also could have gotten hurt." she insisted, seeing no reaction from the former mafioso.

He simply shrugged in response and sent something eerily close to a fond look towards the boy.

"Nah Lambo is a lot tougher than he looks. Trust me on that. Also, it's better for Tsukune to be a little hurt now, so his body would be more ready when he gets into real trouble." he explained seriously."Don't forget both of us are humans. We need something to counter the natural advantages youkai has over us. And your other self won't be there always to bail us out." he couldn't meet her eyes as he walked forward. He obviously missed the sad frown she sent him.

They walked together in silence, both of them deep in thought.

-0-

"You know it's a little strange that you want to walk to school early, just the two of us, leaving behind Tsukune. What is it?" asked Tsuna curiously. Strange, if it was anyone else he would have been suspicious as hell, but Moka was different. He trusted her more than it should be reasonable and that sometimes scared him.

She was blushing slightly, not meeting his eyes. She kept touching her rosary while she was walking with him.

"I asked Kurumu to make sure he gets to class all right. She seemed very happy to be alone with him. Also, it's been a while since it was just the two of us." she explained, sending a small smile to him."And Ura-chan also wanted to talk to you without the others."

"Ura-chan?" he rose an eyebrow in question, not familiar with the name. Moka chuckled sheepishly.

"I mean my sealed self. I thought it would be rude to always call her other me, so I thought of a nickname. And since she is most of the time in the rosary, I decided to call her Ura-chan." she said with a bright smile, before pouting."But she doesn't like it."

Seeing her expression, Tsuna couldn't help but chuckle softly.

"Ura-chan. It has a nice ring to it. Then what will be your nickname?"

"Omote." she almost literally beamed at him, happy that he liked her nicknames.

"If I release the seal wouldn't that mean a gigantic eruption of youkai power? I don't know about you, but I don't want to attract a bunch of bloodthirsty idiots. And also wouldn't you be knocked out for a few hours at the least? Class starts soon." he reminded her, not understanding why couldn't he talk to... Ura Moka after their classes.

The rosary moved a little and she looked down at it, head tilted to the side as she listened to her other self.

"Ura-chan says that because she doesn't plan to fight at all, most of her power won't be released. And since our body won't be taxed by the release of energy, at most I will be a little sleepy afterward. At least in theory." she said the last part uncertain. Tsuna sighed seeing that there was no delaying their talk. The worst part was he had a suspicion about what the vampire side wanted to talk about.

"Here goes nothing." he said as he gently grabbed the rosary and pulled it down, the seal showing no resistance.

Without the usual fanfare, Tsuna watched on as Moka's pink hair turned to silver, her green eyes red and her body matured. That last part he never understood the reason for, but he usually simply ignored it and tried his body to do the same. With limited success.

After she fully transformed, Moka crossed her arms in front of her chest, staring at him with an odd gaze. It was a little different from the usually indifferent stares he got from her, a little hard to interpret. It also didn't help matters that looking into her eyes reminded him of his encounter with a future version of her.

He cleared his throat, trying to tell himself to focus on the vampire in front of him, but it was no easy task. He stepped away from her, in case either she got angry at something and attacked him or he loses control once again and does something he would regret.

"So, what's up?" asked in a rather lame attempt at appearing flippant. The way her eyes narrowed told him he was unsuccessful.

Moka stayed silent for a whole minute, eying him. They were alone since usually, they took a little detour on the way to school that made them avoid most of the school's population. Which was not very easy to do with her increasing fan club slash stalkers trying to learn everything about her daily routine. At the very least Lambo had an ample amount of grenades on him and Tsuna got to practice his aim with explosives.

"You are dying, aren't you?" she asked bluntly, at last, just the barest amount of sympathy in her cold voice.

Shocked, Tsuna stared at her in disbelief, before he nervously began to chuckle, not noticing how he backed away from her. She walked closer to him, not letting him escape her sight, as if he would run the first chance she gave him. She was not particularly wrong there.

"What are you talking about? I have you know I'm the picture of health. You should worry more about Tsukune. Now, he is one unlucky fellow, if you know what I'm talking about." he rambled on, as he continued back away. Eventually, his back hit a tree, giving him no more room to retreat.

Moka stood before him, silently staring at him, not at all impressed by what he was doing. Tsuna tried to think of something, anything to change a subject but coming up blank. Suddenly, as if the wind got out of his sails, he stopped. He felt tired, so tired. His shoulders slumped under invisible burdens and his eyes lost their light. He stared down to the ground, not meeting her eyes.

"Yeah, probably." he admitted quietly, both to her and himself, for the first time. "No idea what it is, but it's killing me from the inside. Both body and mind. Honestly," he let out a humorless laugh at the whole situation." after everything I had to face, after so many hardships, that's what will kill me? Some kind of disease." he shook his head, trying to chase away the depressing thoughts. He knew that his method of pushing his problems into dark corners of his mind wasn't very healthy but it was working, up until he needed to face them.

"There is nothing you can do?" asked Moka softly, sounding a little sad. He was never sure, not with her released personality. Most of the time, she was hard to read, even for him.

"Not without giving out what remained of my pride." he admitted and that was the hardest part of it all. Ever since he lost everything following the inheritance ceremony, he tried to control everything in his life, not wanting to have anyone power over him again. The truth was a bitter pill to swallow, he couldn't solve this alone."You sucking my blood daily works as a temporary solution for some reason, but sooner or later either my body or my mind will give out."

She didn't say anything to that, only staring at him evenly. If anyone, Tsuna was sure, she would understand his reluctance in asking for help. From the brief time, he knew her, it was easy to tell she was as prideful as they come and wanted to do everything herself, without relying on others. It was a stark contrast compared to her outer self, once again reminding him of Chrome and Mukuro.

With that funny thought, he stepped next to her, giving her the rosary before walking towards the school.

"Let's get going. Omote-chan will scold both of us if we are late." he told her with an almost painfully fake smile on his face. Moka only raised a bemused eyebrow in response to her other self's newest nickname before following him, not putting the seal back just yet.

"Why tell me this and not my other self?" she wondered after a few minutes of walking.

They had yet to bump into any other students, which he counted as a blessing. Seeing how much attention Omote usually garnered just by passing by, he was generally afraid of the amount of fanboying and fangirling that would wait for them if anyone saw Ura walking around casually with him. Objectively speaking her sealed self was the epitome of cuteness, but this Moka had basically reinterpreted the word sexy. Not that he had been looking at her or anything like that. Hopefully, she won't notice the blush that flared on his face at the unexpected thought.

She asked a question from him, didn't she? He shook his head a little, trying to clear it before answering.

"If I understand things right, she is not as aware of the outside world as you are when you switch places." Moka gave a slight nod in response."Guess I needed to tell this to somebody, but she would needlessly worry about me while she could do nothing to help. Besides," a small, but genuine small touched his face as he looked up at the clear sky wishfully." I want to enjoy these peaceful these while I can."

His only answer was silence, but there was nothing wrong with that. It felt nice, walking next to this Moka who usually had him on edge. There was a silent understanding between them, he felt as if he for once in a long time he wasn't alone in his burdens, that there was someone who if nothing else understood him much more than any other.

A soft growl came from his ring and he rolled his eyes with a fond smile.

"I know that already. Tell me something I don't know." he said, confusing Moka.

She was about to ask him who he was talking to, but Tsuna once again surprised her when he took off the ring on his right hand and placed it in her hands. She eyed the ring curiously, the small lion face on it seemed to vibrate in its place. She noted that it was the same ring that he took to wearing on his right hand ever since the incident with Gin. At first glance, it wasn't anything special, but the more she concentrated on it, the more she felt faint energy coming from it, similar to those bullets he used on Tsukune.

"What is this?" she asked, giving him a sharp glare when all he did was chuckle before he began to walk once again. No matter how interesting she found him or how much her other self liked him, she would take disrespect from no one.

"It's just Natsu." he said after a few seconds, prompting a raised eyebrow from her."He's my, well you can call him my animal partner. He's usually a scaredy-cat, but pretty reliable if things got tough. But he seems to like both you and Omote a lot for some reason. Consider it a good luck charm for both of you until the midterms." he told her, hands placed behind his head in a carefree manner. And he definitely did not blush. Not at all.

She looked once again at the ring, noticing a slight warmth she felt coming from it. And when she strained her ears she heard a small sound coming from it, similar to a kitten's, but she had the feeling the sound belonged to something stronger than an average kitten. It certainly sounded shy and a bit wary, as if it was afraid that she didn't like it. Overall the ring seemed as strange and contradictory as its owner.

"It's not the only reason you are giving it to me, right?" she asked at last after she finished inspecting Natsu.

"Yeah." Tsuna agreed easily but refused to elaborate. As much Moka wanted him to tell her more, she was aware that he was almost as stubborn as she was. And the sound of chatting students reached them, she decided that this talk will have to continue at another time.

With one last look at the mysterious human walking next to her, she placed the rosary back in its place, letting her naive self once again take control.

-0-

"Moka-chan, play with me!" cried out Lambo in a loud, obnoxious voice, holding up a monster-themed puzzle, that no one had any idea how he got his hands on.

"Sure Lambo-kun." she agreed with a bright smile, before looking to the side a little worriedly. "But let's be quiet okay? The others are a little tired, so let them have a little peace." she said, taking the young boy's hand and leading him to the other end of the classroom.

Tsuna opened one eye to look at them, before closing it once again and letting his aching head rest a little. They were in the newspaper club's room, Tsuna, Tsukune, and Kurumu collapsed on top of their desks, utterly spent from their midterm exams. Unlike Moka, who had very little problem with academics, the three of them were on the other hand of the scale. After all, because of their less than average scores in middle school that both Tsuna and Tsukune ended up at Youkai Academy, one of the only places they could get into.

"My head...hurts..." groaned out Tsukune, not even having enough energy left to lift his head. It was an especially painful few weeks for him because Tsuna insisted that they continue to train even as midterms approached. It was especially unfair because while he was being mauled, burnt, or simply blown up, his trainer continued to study without a care in the world.

Kurumu groaned something undecipherable in response, looking even worse than the two of them. Her clothing looked disheveled like she was so tired that she wasn't even able to get ready properly. Aside from that, Tsuna could also see her head emitting smoke as if her brain was fried. Though he intellectually knew that he must be seeing things, strangely he did smell something burning.

"What happened to you?" asked Gin as he stepped into the room. He didn't look as bad as them, but he had an 'I am done with the world' vibe around him as he seated at the teacher's desk as usual. Tsuna didn't bother answering him.

He and the werewolf agreed in somewhat of an uneasy truce. They tried to interact as little as possible and largely ignored the other's existence, since Moka seemed to forgive what happened after their first meeting, provided he behaves himself. Of course, it didn't really work at first, so when Tsuna finally lost his patience, he proceeded to take Moka's rosary off and let the vampire have a few words with the club president. Since then they learned to tolerate each other.

If he was honest, aside from the whole pervert part of Gin's persona, he found the older student to be someone who could be easy to get along with. He held a subtle to notice passion about the newspaper club and he had his moments when he acted as a responsible, mature upperclassman. Each of those times he decided to ruin the effect with a poor joke or a perverse comment, but still, Tsuna decided to let bygones be bygones.

Tsukune, on the other hand, was following Moka's lead and decided to be friendly with Gin as long as he doesn't revert back to his ways. Maybe because of that or because he was not the one to beat him, the werewolf likewise was cordial with him. Though privately Tsuna had another theory about that, it was too early to say for sure.

"They just a little spent after the exams." explained Moka while she continued to play with Lambo. From who knows where they got their hands on a color book and the young Bovino was busy showing her his work.

"What? A little studying is all it takes to tire you out like that?" Gin laughed so hard, he even had to brace himself on the desk, and tears gathered in his eyes. Kurumu sent him a weak glare and some unintelligent curses that went unnoticed.

It took a whole minute to get himself under control. But as soon as he calmed down he walked up to Moka with a charming smile, completely obvious the glare Lambo sent him. Or the little purple grenade he pulled out.

"Well, it's not like it matters to me. If you lot fail and get stuck in afterschool classes, it will get me more private time with my Moka-chan, so go ahead." he told them while causally placing an arm around the vampire, though she quickly stepped away from him.

"Says the guy who last year had the lowest test scores of all of his year." Tsuna shot back, without missing a beat, causing Gin to facepalm onto the ground.

"How did you know that?"

"Haiji-senpai. We still par on Tuesdays and Fridays. He likes to chat. A lot." explained Tsuna as he stood up with a yawn. He looked a little unsteady on his feet, but managed not to fall over."Oh, you shouldn't ignore Lambo. He tends to get creative."

"What are you talking about?" asked the werewolf perplexed, before he caught something that Lambo threw at him. "I caught your ball kid, now what do you-?" he cut himself off as he realized what he was holding. A very realistic, purple grenade. He managed to throw a glare at Tsuna before it blew up, catching the smirk the former mafioso sent him.

Kurumu and Tsukubne both jumped up as the sound resonated in the classroom, the latter frantically patting himself down as if he thought he was the one who blew up. Black smoke filled the room until Moka hurriedly throw the windows open. As the smoke cleared out, Gin was revealed, standing in his place, dumbly looking at his hand. The grenade was not very strong, all it did was paint him black from head to toe with soot. Lambo was laughing hysterically from next to Tsuna where he ran as soon as he could.

"That's not funny." Moka scolded the two of them when she caught Tsuna quietly snickering, though even she had a very small smile on her.

"Depends on where you are standing." he said before he walked out of the room with his young charge in tow."I need a long sleep. See you guys."

"Sawada!" Gin roared, running after him.

-0-

Tsuna yawned loudly as he walked to school with Tsukuke, Kurumu, and Moka. His uniform was a little disheveled like he didn't have the energy to properly dress up. There was also faint bags under his eyes.

"What's wrong with you? Did Moka once again drink too much blood from you? Or have the two of you been doing naughty things behind our backs?" asked Kurumu with a sly smile, enjoying Moka's blushing face and Tsuna's annoyed one. Unlike him, she and Tsukune looked normal, the stress of the midterms behind them.

"Nah, just having a little trouble sleeping that's all." said Tsuna, though he was not very convincing. Through to be told, his abysmal sleeping habits were just one of the problems in a long line. The appearance of that mysterious girl and her connection to the mafia worried him. He thought that his life involving the mafia was over, but looks like the mafia wasn't finished with him.

He was reluctant but had to admit that Moka and the others were his friends now and he didn't want them to be involved in the mafia in any way. He didn't want history repeating before his very eyes.

"What's going on over there?" asked Tsukune curiously, pointing forward. Before the entrance of the school, a large group of students was gathered before a large board. Many were crying, some were hugging each other in relief, while there some who looked as if their very soul was crushed.

"Those are the midterm scores for the freshmen." a lazy voice answered from behind them. Turning around they met with Gin who gave them a wolfish grin in greeting. "The sophomore and senior scores are inside. Guess the school likes to humiliate the freshmen a little more than others." he explained the unasked question.

"Then why are you here?" asked Kurumu, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"So I could laugh when these two see their horrible scores." he said without a hint of shame as he pointed at the boys. Neither of them raised to defend themselves, more than aware of their academic performances.

"Let's get this over with." muttered Tsuna as he walked towards the board, the others following him, trepidation on their hearts. The large student body practically split in the face of Moka and Kurumu, the two idols of the freshmen year. The boys were treated to jealous stares and death threats from the assembled fanboys and fangirls as they strolled behind the girls, but it was nothing new to either of them.

Moka leaned forward eagerly, trying to spot her name among the listed scores. Out of the four of them, she was the one who studied and put the most energy into her studies and it looked like it won't be unrewarded.

"Ah, I'm 13th in their grade overall." she declared happily as she spotted her name at the top of the list. Students around her looked at her in awe and whispered among themselves.

"Not only is she the most beautiful girl at the academy, but she's smart too."

"And she has a good personality and isn't stuck up at all!"

"She's perfect!"

"The number one ideal girl!"

"Marry me, Moka-san!"

As usual, she completely ignored the admirers around her and turned to face her friends with a bright smile. Gin was busy laughing almost hysterically at something he saw, while Kurumu and Tsuna stood there with hunched shoulder, defeated. Tsukune was the one who turned to her, giving her a sheepish smile.

"I'm 128th." which was the possible most average result because there were 256 students in their grade. "You are incredible, I got to follow your example." he praised her. One could see a dog's tail wagging behind him as he eagerly tried to please his crush.

"222nd! But I tried so hard!" Kurumu cried, throwing her arms around Tsukune, clinging to him in sorrow. The human could do nothing but wrap an arm around her waist to try to keep her still. As soon as she noticed their positions, the succubus's expression turned sly as she coyly stared at him. "I wouldn't mind if you were to give me a few private lessons to help me catch up." Tsukune's face got redder with every minute, while a lot of boys watched on jealously.

Moka only smiled gently at her friends, before looking at her most enigmatic friend with curiosity. Tsuna's shoulders were slumped in defeat, but his eyes held a tired acceptance, not looking surprised at all by his overall score. He didn't even have to see her face, he already knew what she wanted to ask.

"199th." he told quietly, with an indifferent shrug of his shoulders. In the background Gin started laughing once again, several people looking worriedly in his direction."Could be worse I suppose."

„Don't worry. I could help you study if you want." she told him cheerily, gaining a hard to notice smile from the brown-haired boy.

"This is the part I tell you don't bother, right?" he asked, his eyes once again holding that spark of warmth that so rarely could be seen.

"Then why don't you?" she asked, playing along.

"Don't feel like that I suppose." he said, not being able to stop the faint smile appearing on his face.

"Then in return let me suck your blood." Moka declared with her cheeks a little pink as she stared at his exposed neck since Tsuna had the bad habit to forget to wear his tie most of the time and this was one of those times.

Gin was still laughing like a madman, while Tsukune continued the futile endeavor to get Kurumu off of him, none of them noticed a small figure watching the group of five a little ways away.

She was a young girl around eleven, a first-year student just like them. She had short black hair and purple eyes. Over her uniform, she was wearing a black witch's hat, a long black cape that went down to her knees along with a pink bow. Her name was Yukari Sendo, a young genius who was accepted into the school despite her age. She was standing by herself, a hesitant and unsure air about her.

"Congratulations Yukari-san on placing 1st on the midterms." a slimy voice sounded behind her. Turning around she was met with a tall young man with brown hair. He was looking down at her with thinly veiled annoyance. "As expected from the girl genius. Even though you are only eleven, it seems didn't get to skip to high school for nothing." his voice lost all semblance of kindness as he stared at her with a disgusted glare."But listen up, please don't start acting all high and mighty. Because in my eyes you are nothing more than an immature brat who reeks nothing but her mother's milk."

Two more men joined him, both looking like a typical thug as they pushed and scared away onlookers. Yukari was eying them warily, holding her arms around herself protectively.

"Class representative?" she asked softly, her eyes quickly moving around, trying to find a way out.

She did not get a chance to, because her hat was snatched off her head while she was pushed down to the ground.

"What's the big idea with this outfit? It's completely against the rules." the class representative ground out with clenched teeth as he creased the witch hat angrily."I despise those who stick out."

"Please stop that." cried out the young girl as she stood up and tried to take her hat back, but was pushed down again.

Other students nearby were looking on, whispering among themselves.

"Oh look it's that girl genius..."

"Her class representative bullying her again."

"Poor girl."

"Guess that's what she got for dressing differently."

Some looked on warily, some sympathetic, some even gleeful, but none of them dared to go closer. It was always like this. Yukari felt tears prickling in her eyes as she once again felt alone, even if she was surrounded by people.

Her bully thrown her hat down in the ground in front of her, she hurriedly snatched it up and shook off the dust from it. He only glared down at her.

"As class representative, your very existence causes me a headache." he gained a cruel smirk as he leaned down to her eye level."After all, your true form is a witch. How disgusting. I feel like vomiting just from the thought of being in the same grade as a half-breed like you."

Anger flashed in her eyes, and as the class representative stood up, out of nowhere a rock appeared, striking him on the head, almost making him fall down. Nobody said anything for a moment until Yukari could no longer hold back and began to laugh, clutching onto her hat.

"Hahaha! You deserved that."

Her bully didn't find it as funny as her and lunged at her furiously, his hand growing larger with green scales covering it. But before he could reach her someone stepped between them and a surge of killing intent stopped him in his tracks.

"Stop!" cried out Moka as she stood between them, arms wide, shielding a surprised Yukari. "I don't know what's going on, but I can't let this go on. Using violence against girls is just wrong. Please leave her alone." she defended the young girl with a strong voice, her gaze steady.

Other students began to whisper around them, praising Moka for stopping the bullying. Almost every other pair of eyes were on them, making the three bullies a little nervous.

But what really alarmed them was the two people standing not far away. While Tsukune and Kurumu looked on, wary and surprised, Gin and Tsuna was much closer and eying the bullies warningly. Despite his goofy attitude, Gin had a reputation as one of the stronger monsters in the Academy. Tsuna, on the other hand, didn't look strong at all at first glance, he also had no reputation, yet him simply looking at them had their every instinct crying out in alarm. There was something in his eyes that told them that angering him would be something they would regret.

"You had better watch yourself Yukari." called out the main bully, apparently recognizing the losing battle for what it was."Let's go guys." with that he walked away with his henchmen, the boys easing their stances, once again looking completely harmless.

Moka eyed them as they retreated, her glare never losing its power. Only when they finally disappeared among the crowd, she turned to a shocked Yukari with a bright smile.

"Are you alright?" she asked kindly. The young girl stared at her blankly, before she gave an unsure nod.

"Yes, thank you. I'm Yukari Sendo. You are Akashiya Moka, right?" she asked shyly from the older girl, whose smile never lost its intensity. Her cheeks began to redden as she continued to gaze at her rescuer.

"Nice to meet you, Yukari-chan." said the vampire, before the ring of the bell was heard all around the front yard. Students began to walk into the school building, heading for their classes. Seeing her friends about to go too, she gave a last kind smile to Yukari."It's time for class. See you later, Yukari-chan." she waved in farewell as she rushed forward to catch up to the others.

Yukari silently nodded, deep in thought, before she noticed something on the ground next to her. Crouching down, she inspected the little silver ring. It had a cute lion face on it and she felt as if it was calling out to her. She hesitantly picked it up, holding it carefully in her hands.

"So warm." she breathed out in awe as a kind, gentle warmth began to flow from her hand. For the first time since she came to this academy, she didn't feel so alone.

Tsuna, unlike the others, didn't leave, but instead, he watched the young witch carefully as she picked up Natsu's ring. He was eying not Yukari, but Natsu instead as if the two of them were silently communicating. In the end, with a silent shake of his head, he turned around and went to class.


	6. Love is in the air

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The rest of Yukari's introduction arc, a little background movement from the Vongola and a sneak peek for a future chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On FF I included a sneak peek of sorts to this chapter, in a way to celebrate the story being half a year old. So I thought I will include it in this site too, so I will give you guys a little sneak peek into (one of) the summer arc(s), hopefully, it will be free of any meaningful spoilers. Enjoy.

"I'm so sorry." said Moka, looking up at Tsuna with teary eyes. The two of them were standing in an empty corridor, just after homeroom ended. Kurumu dragged Tsukune away for somewhere, leaving the two of them alone when the pink-haired girl meekly asked to speak with him.

"For what?" he asked, feeling completely lost. It was not a new feeling, most of his life he felt lost around girls, especially Kyoko during middle school, but that was not the usual around Moka.

The vampire was very nervous, constantly fidgeting with the hem of her skirt, not meeting his eyes. She was like this since around the middle of homeroom, where she almost jumped out of her desk from shock as she noticed something.

"Moka-" he tried to say something to the girl to comfort her, but was cut off by the vampire.

"I lost your ring, I mean I lost Natsu." she began to ramble, not even stopping to breathe, as if she even stopped for one second she wouldn't be able to say anymore."He was with me in the morning, and I wore it on a chain around my neck, so I could keep it safe. But when class started, I noticed him missing and I looked at everyone and I don't know where he could be and I didn't mean to, it meant a lot to me that you trusted me with your ring, but I lost it and I'm sorry." she closed her eyes as if excepting to be hit. Her eyes opened wide when she felt a hand on her head, gently patting her. Looking at her friend, she found Tsuna smiling softly at her.

"Is that all? I already knew about that" he asked her with an amused look on his face. At her disbelieving expression, he elaborated."You have to remember, though he stays in his ring most of the time, Natsu is a living being. You couldn't have lost him if he didn't want to. Even though he is a shy, big scaredy-cat most of the time, he could be very stubborn if he decided on something and little else could dissuade him from it. People told me, Natsu and I are very similar." he told her with a fond smile."I already sensed when he let himself be 'lost' and I do know who has him, so don't worry about it."

"Than you are not angry?" asked Moka with a hopeful tone, already looking like she lost a great weight from her shoulders.

"Of course not. Natsu is just being his usual self." Tsuna said cryptically, before the vampire embraced him, picking him off the ground and twirling him around in happiness.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she chanted, either not noticing or not caring about the very close proximity of their bodies.

"Moka...strength..." wheezed out Tsuna, gulping in precious air as he was released. Sometimes that girl seriously forgot about her strength.

\- 0-

"Thank you so much, you really saved me." gushed Yukari as she thanked Moka with stars in her eyes.

It was lunch break and the gang was sitting at their usual table, eating lunch where Yukari found and joined them. Kurumu was missing, according to Tsukune, she was held back by her homeroom teacher, because of her low exam scores.

Tsukune gaped at the young witch, head tilted in confusion, while Moka sat there, blushing slightly, caught completely off-guard by the adoration aimed at her. Tsuna, on the other hand, was left unaffected, calmly eating his lunch, beef ramen. Despite this being a school for monsters, he had found that both their Japanese and western foods are surprisingly good, compared to the outward appearance of the whole school. A school belonging to a horror movie did not promote health standards after all.

He looked up as he noticed the silence and slowly chewed on the last piece of beef before swallowing and turning to Yukari.

"Nice to meet you." Tsuna greeted her in a neutral voice. "My name is Sawada Tsunayoshi," he pointed his chopsticks at a still unmoving Tsukune." the rude one is Aono Tsukune and by now probably everyone in the school knows her, but she is Akashiya Moka." he finished, pointing at Moka who was coming out of her stupor and with the introductions done, he went back to his ramen but found it missing. Looking to the side he caught Lambo finishing it with a sated belch.

"Lambo." he said dangerously, causing the young boy to look up and froze at the look sent his way."What did I tell you?" he asked, the look in his eyes promising pain.

"Hi, Tsuna-nii." tried Lambo with a weak smile, holding up the empty bowl as if it was a peace offering."Not to leave the room during your classes?" he asked, not sure of the answer.

"Don't. Eat. My. Lunch." ground out Tsuna, before the two of them descended into bickering, fighting over an empty bowl.

"Nice to meet you." answered Yukari politely, though it was clear from her attitude that she quickly dismissed the boys, only concentrating on Moka. The older girl smiled at her, causing her face to lit up in a nice shade of red.

"I heard that even though you are the same grade as us, you are only eleven, right? And even ranked first in the exams?" she asked curiously, not wanting to have incorrect information. "You are really smart aren't you Yukari-chan? And that outfit is really cool." she complimented her, causing Yukari to wave embarrassedly.

"A grade-schooler." murmured softly a shell-shocked Tsukune, who felt as if he was a dumb rodent next to the two girls. Fortunately, his comment went ignored by everyone at the table.

"Oh, well, cool, I mean, I'm not, but..." Yukari couldn't form a proper sentence, she was so embarrassed. Her face was red and she tried to hide her face under the brim of her hat."You are the one who's cool and pretty and sweet, Moka-san." she said, shyly looking up from behind her hat after she calmed down a little. She looked at the vampire with a look filled with passionate emotions. "You know I actually...I..." she seemed to lose her nerve for a moment before she steeled herself and launched herself into Moka's lap, embracing the surprised vampire. "I wuv you!" she declared loudly, her voice carrying over the whole room, causing everyone to look at them curiously.

"What?" asked back Moka, blinking in shock, not understanding what's happening. Her arms closed around Yukari's form on reflex, to keep the girl from falling.

"What?!" cried out Tsukune, who finally came out of his shock-induced haze, face reddening at the sight before him.

"What?" asked curiously Tsuna, chopsticks in his mouth, while he was holding a struggling Lambo in a headlock, missing the whole interaction.

"What?" Lambo stopped his attempt at trying to bite Tsuna's hand to also look up, but immediately lost interest and went back to trying to get free.

"Every time I saw you in that classroom across the hall I fell in love with you a bit more. But after you saved me, my heart was made up." Yukari told the pink-haired girl, her heart beating fast and loud."Please go out with me!" she pleaded with a cute look on her face."Is that so bad, dating someone like me?"

Moka opened her mouth, but no words came out as she looked troubled by the confession made by the eager witch. She sent a look towards Tsuna, part of it a plea for help, the other part full of emotions that went unvoiced, but the teen could only give her a silent shrug as he watched the spectacle before him with confusion as if it was not a scene he ever saw before.

"Looks like you have some competition." he muttered to Tsukune in a poor attempt to lighten the atmosphere around them. The other human could only continue to stare at in shock, not even the mention of his crush was able to bring him back.

With no other way out, Moka gave Yukari a weak smile. She didn't want to hurt the young girl's feelings, not after what happened to her, especially because this appeared something usual, but she also didn't want to agree, because she didn't feel that way towards her. If she had to date someone, it would be...She shook her head, trying not to let her thoughts wander, trying to find a middle ground. Not rejection, but also not agreement.

"As a friend, I suppose." she said in the end, causing Yukari to beam at her.

"Thank you, I'm so happy." she cried out, hugging her. Whether it was her intention or not, her head ended up firmly on the top of the vampire's chest, causing Moka to let out a soft moan at the sudden sensation.

There were several loud thuds around them, causing Tsuna to look around, with an eyebrow raised. Around the room, there were a lot of boys and a surprising amount of girls passed out with red faces and blood running freely from their noses.

"What's going on?" asked Lambo, looking around bewildered. Tsuna eyed him for a moment, trying to decide what to tell him, before giving a shrug to himself.

"Vampire all you can eat buffet." he told him, before looking at Tsukune, deadpanning as he found him with his head on the table, passed out like the others. "Et Tu, Tsukune?" he asked humorously. He gave a glance to Moka and Yukari. and he lost his smile as he tried to ignore the uncomfortable feeling in his stomach.

-0-

For a day or two, things remained mostly the same, with the only addition being Yukari popping up and hogging Moka all to herself. Kurumu was fine with that, she was noticeably more friendly with the vampire after the whole incident with hypnotism, but she used this opportunity to spend as much time with Tsukune alone. Tsuna didn't say anything, but he began to miss their quiet walks in the morning, the private talks they had while Tsukune was being tortu- when Tsukune was training. Instead of saying anything, he concentrated all the more on Tsukune's training, making the black-haired boy miserable almost all the time.

The hellish torture Tsuna provided, coupled with Moka spending less and less time with them, Tsukune steadily grew angrier with Yukari's annoying presence.

"Mmm!" moaned out Moka softly, when out of nowhere Yukari appeared and grabbed onto her breast. She, Tsuna, and Tsukune were walking to the newspaper club when out of nowhere Yukari for the lack of a better word attacked the vampire.

"Wow! Moka-chan's breasts are even bigger than they look." she marveled with an almost childish curiosity as Moka struggled to get away."It's so soft, this is like a dream."

Other students stared at them, before either looking away, red in embarrassment, or passing out because of nosebleed. It's gotten so bad, that several students have to call in a sick day or two, because of massive blood loss.

"You do know that sexual harassment is a crime?" asked Tsuna patiently, despite whatever annoyance he felt toward the witch. In some ways, she reminded him of I-pin, when they first met. The young martial artist might have been a kid, but she acted -or at least tried to act- like an adult, because that's what she knew, that's what was expected of her. In the end, Yukari was still a kid, a lonely kid.

But while Tsuna may have been patient, Tsukune, on the other hand, wasn't.

"Wait! What in the world are you doing?" cried out Tsukune.

Yukari let go of Moka, who ended up on the floor in her struggle to get free and glared at Tsukune, while Tsuna helped Moka stand up. As soon as she was on her feet, Yukari possessively embraced her, her glare never losing its intensity only switching it to Tsuna for daring to touch her Moka-chan.

"Please don't get in our way. I know all about you two!" she said as she puffed up her cheeks angrily, though honestly, it made her look cute if anything. "Aono Tsukune, grades: middle of the middle, athletic ability, average like a human, no hobby or special ability. In other words, you are a perfect picture of a completely ordinary boy." the words struck Tsukune heavily, causing his shoulders to slump under an invisible burden. Tsuna almost laughed at him but was surprised when Yukari turned to him. "Sawada Tsunayoshi, grades: below average, athletic ability: above average, it's been noticed that you carry human weapons, mainly guns, and explosives with you. You are a no-good delinquent." the former mafioso's eye began to twitch at the words, especially the mention of his old nickname.

"Please calm down, Yukari-chan." Moak tried to diffuse the situation, but it was to no avail, the young witch could not be stopped so easily.

"You two are like snapping turtles, while the gorgeous Moka-chan is the moon. You are way too different." she said vehemently, getting into the two shocked boys' faces. Despite her little stature, the manic glint in her eyes unnerved a little even Tsuna. When neither of them spoke a word, she stepped back and reached into her cloak."I love Moka-chan. Because of that, I don't want my beautiful Moka-chan to be brought down to the dirt by rotten delinquents like you."

"You realize that it is her choice who to be friends with, not yours." The brown-haired teen tried to reason with her, even as he felt shivers crawl up on his spine as he was reminded of his introduction to the Poison Scorpio. The way Yukari acted with Moka, was too eerily reminiscent of Bianchi and Reborn for him to be able to forget, even if the age gap was much lower.

"That's why I'm declaring war on you!" said Yukari, completely ignoring what was said to her. In her hands, she was holding a small stick, a wand with a heart-shaped ending, a pentagram in the middle of the heart."You don't stand a chance against my magic wand." But the most interesting thing, that the others save for Tsuna failed to notice was a small chain hanging around her neck, below the coat holding Natsu's ring. Instead of the wand, he eyed the ring curiously, letting out a little annoyed huff as the animal ring let out a pulse of flame energy, communicating with its owner.

Tsukune couldn't hold back the soft snicker at the sight of it. After everything that was thrown at him by this academy, mostly by Tsuna and Lambo, a magical stick of all things didn't particularly frighten him. Of course, it only made Yukari angrier.

"I'll make sure you never come close to my Moka-chan again." she pointed her wand at a nearby cupboard, a half dozen brooms flying out of it at her command. The boys just watched on with bemused expressions, before Tsuna turned to his friend."

"Run." he said simply before the brooms launched themselves at them.

Tsukune ran with a surprised cry, though he only got a few meters before he was hit with a barrage of brooms, sending him down to the ground. Thankfully his body was used to much more painful sensations, mainly explosives, so the damage done to him was relatively low. It did not make it any less annoying though.

Tsuna on the other hand, calmly dodged the incoming attacks with ease, causing Yukari to pout angrily and divert more brooms against him and away from Tsukune. Thanks to the hyper intuition of the vongola, it was practically child's play avoiding the slow sweeps made by the brooms.

"What's going on?" asked Tsukune as finally the last of the rogue brooms left him to join trying to catch the former mafioso off-guard, but it was in vain.

"This is my magic." Yukari declared cheerily, ignoring for a moment the futile assault against Tsuna. "With my magical wand, channeling my magic I can control the brooms. That's because I'm a witch." she took a cute pose, waving her wand in the air."Using my magic, I will fight off any boy that dares to get close to my Moka-chan!"

While Moka and Tsukune gaped at the bold declaration, Tsuna was getting increasingly bored, wondering if he should use the grenade Lambo left in his bag or that wasn't worth the effort. But all idle thoughts left him, as he felt a small, but genuine killing intent not far from them. He froze, his body instinctively readying for a fight. It was almost an afterthought to simply grab the closest broom by the handle that tried to take a swipe at him, his senses stretched as much as he could without access to hyper mode, trying to find the source of the killing intent.

At the same time, the other brooms fell to the floor, Yukari letting go of the control of her magic, taken aback by the sudden sense of danger radiating from the brown-haired teen. Taking a step back, trying to hide behind Moka's presence, she couldn't help but be afraid, before a sudden warmth from the ring on her neck, calmed her down, assuring her that she was safe. Though, it did not make her any less wary of Tsuna.

Tsukune also reacted similarly, his mind immediately jumping back to their first day at the newspaper club, remembering the chilling look Tsuna gave him that day. He tried to fight his body's reaction, his friend wasn't even looking their way, instead of looking towards the end of the corridor, searching for something.

"Tsuna-kun!" cried out Moka, seeing the others' reactions, trying to snap him out of it. Maybe because of her other half, but she was easily able to ignore the killing intent Tsuna was releasing.

At the sound of her voice, his head snapped to them, but the feeling of danger disappeared as soon as he noticed their reactions. Forcing his tense body to relax, he gave them an apologetic look, that only Moka noticed before he let go of the broom he was still holding. As the broom fell to the ground with a loud noise, Tsuna turned around and walked away without a word. It was only after they all calmed down, that they noticed the broom's handle was broken, the wood was barely holding itself together.

-0-

The next day found Moka walking together with Tsuna and Lambo toward the newspaper club's room, their arms full with papers they were told to get for their upcoming paper. Lambo was ahead of them, loudly singing something to himself, that for some reason reminded Tsuna of Namimori Middle's School Anthem, a favorite of Hibari's. It was totally instinctual that he looked around, dreading the prefect's sudden appearance.

"You should do something about Yukari, she attacked Tsukune once again." he told her in a casual tone, happy to have a little time to talk just the two of them. While the witch decided to leave him alone after several failed attempts at him, she continued to plague Tsukune."Last I heard, Kurumu was tending after him at the clubroom."

If there was someone who benefited from Yukari trying to draw Tsukune away from Moka, it was the succubus, who used every opportunity to stay alone with her destined one.

Moka stayed silent, a sullen look on her face that Tsuna could emphasize with. She did not want to hurt Yukari's feelings, it was easy to tell her that the girl just felt alone and latched onto the first person who showed her kindness. But it did not mean what she was doing wasn't wrong, driving away Moka's friends so she could only concentrate on her was going to backfire sooner or later.

Tsuna didn't bother holding back the sigh that threatened to escape him. He would have preferred a rampaging youkai that only needed to be beaten up, to this high school drama.

"Maybe she could play with Lambo-kun? Having someone closer to her age might help her." asked Moka with a hopeful tone, but her hopes were dashed as Tsuna let out an unamused snort in response.

"It would be a disaster." he told her."Last time I tried that it was a warzone. Grenades and kung-fu attacks flew everywhere and I was in the middle of it. Trust me, Lambo is a good kid, but terrible with first impressions."

Her shoulders slumped in defeat and they continued to walk in silence. They soon reached the clubroom where Tsukune raised voice was heard. The two of them looked at each other, confused about why the human was yelling, though privately Tsuna had an idea.

Stepping into the room, both of them wore shocked expressions as they witnessed Tsukune grabbing onto Kurumur's breasts, the succubus letting out an embarrassed kya followed by a soft moan as he tightened his grip.

"What's going on?" Moka raised her voice in surprise, red dusting her cheek at the scene before her.

"To tell you the truth, I always thought it would be the other way." commented Tsuna, amusement on his face, even as he looked away and began to walk toward an open window, where he could hear soft giggling.

"It's not what it looks like. My body, it's moving on its own." Tsukune cried out, panicked, even as his hands let Kurumu go and moved towards her skirt. "Somebody, please, stop me!" he pleaded.

Yukari was busy giggling to herself, using her voodoo doll to control the black-haired boy's movements. She was pretty proud of herself for that one, using the doll as a medium, no one could tell it was her who used Tsukune's body, and her Moka-chan would finally see the boy for the lowlife he is.

"Found you." said an amused voice above her. Looking up, she was surprised to find the face of Tsuna peering down at her. Before she could think of running away, a hand grabbed her collar and pulled her in through the window with ease. Unfortunately in the process, she lost her grip on her magic item, and along with her lost concentration, the spell she used faded away, giving Tsukune the control back over his body.

"No, my voodoo doll. Let me go!" she cried out as she fought to get out of the older boy's grip, before falling down the ground as he did exactly she asked. She took her chance and quickly dived behind a bewildered Moka, using her as a shield.

"That was funny! Do it again." cheered Lambo, when he realized that Tsukune was acting funny because of her. Unlike him, the others looked mostly shocked, save for Tsukune who was visibly pissed, and Tsuna who had a neutral expression as he simply leaned on the wall and watched the drama unfolding.

"I've had enough!" roared furiously Tsukune, glaring daggers at the witch who looked anything but repentant. "All week I was attacked and ambushed by everything from brooms to washbasins, and this was the last straw. Someone should teach that annoying brat some manners before she goes too far." it did not help, that Yukari had the audacity to stick her tongue at him, while she pulled down her eyelid, further taunting him.

"Tsukune, let's calm down." ever the peacemaker, Moka tried to calm the human boy, holding her hands up, though even she felt that this latest trick of Yukari was a little over the line. Still, she tried to mediate, since she thought of Yukari as one of her friends and she did not want them to fight.

"You are too soft on her!" insisted Tsukune."You have to tell her she's being a bother. How long until she seriously hurts someone? It's for her sake as well as ours."

"I suppose..but..." the vampire trailed off, uneasy. She did not want to take sides, but the worst thing was that Tsukune's words made sense. They have been so wrapped up in their argument that neither of them noticed Yukari's face fell and sadly taking a few steps back from them.

"If she continues to hang out with you, and drive away everyone else, won't she just end up alone and without friends?"

"I don't mind." the young witch's quiet voice interrupted their argument. Everyone looked at her, while she used the rim of her hat to hide the gathering tears. She clutched the ring on her neck as if it was a lifeline, trying to sound cheerful. "After all, I'm a genius. I'm sorry but I don't want such stupid friends." both Tsukune and Kurumu cried out in protest at the insult aimed at them, but they were ignored. "Besides..." her voice shook as she held back a quiet sob."Besides I always, always had been alone."

Everyone looked at her in sympathy, after all in some ways or another every one of them had been alone at some part of their lives. Even Kurumu as when she started to attend this school, she was without friends, only charmed servants to keep her from feeling lonely. Tsukune winced, feeling ashamed as he realized how harsh his words may have sounded,

"Yukari-chan." he said softly, reaching out to her to comfort her. But instead, she burst out laughing as if she heard a great joke, waving her wand around, causing a metal washbasin to fall from above, directly at Tsukune's head, sending the poor boy to the ground, nursing a very big bump. "Yukari-chan!" he cried out in anger as she ran away, cackling madly.

As Moka rounded on him for his thoughtless words, only Kurumu noticed Tsuna calmly getting up and after telling Lambo to stay put, he walked away in the direction Yukari ran. She tilted her head in puzzlement, wondering what was going on in the usually distant teen's mind.

-0-

"Let me go." cried out Yukari as she was roughly pushed into a tree.

After she ran away from Moka and others, wanting to be alone so no one would see her tears, unfortunately, she soon bumped into and was cornered by her class representative and his friends, one of her most frequent bullies. They dragged her to the edge of the forest, where no one ever went to, the perfect place to remain undisturbed.

"So disgusting." he hissed at her with a cruel glint at his eyes, even as his body contorted on itself, green scales taking over the place of skin, his lithe body expanding."A witch is such a disgraceful being."

Sonn all the three of them revealed their true forms, as lizardmen. They were taller, much broader, with a lizard's head and a scaly tail appearing from under their shirts. The class representative hair turned red, forming into some sort of mohawk as he leered at the young witch. Yukari in response could only hold her wand out as some kind of shield, while her other hand clutched her ring protectively.

"Understand, we have no need for a girl like you in our class." the class representative turned her now yellow, reptilian eyes on her, mouth widening into a scary imitation of a smile with lots of sharp teeth."Why don't we get the academy rid of you?" his lackeys obediently laughed in response, looking down on her.

"Stay away!" she cried out in alarm, waving her wand as if it was a torch in hopes they remain where they were, while she tried to think of some magic that could help get out of this mess. Her plan backfired, when with a quick lunge of his head, the leader snatched the wand out of her hand, breaking it apart with a bite in the process.

She stared at the remains of her wand in shock, tears gathering in her eyes and ignoring the small sounds of growling that came from where her hands clutched onto her ring. The bullies laughed among themselves at her helplessness.

"What should we do with her? Maybe she can be useful for something even if she is just a half-breed." asked one of the henchmen, leering down at her, much to the others' amusement.

"Let's eat her up. No one will ever know, and I'm really hungry." offered the other one.

"You are always hungry." retorted their leader, but grinned nonetheless. "But I agree. Let's eat her up." he opened his jaw wide enough that it seemed he would be able to swallow Yukari in one bite and then lunged forward toward the frightened girl.

"Please, stay away." she cried out, terrified. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see, even as the ring in her hands warmed to a painful degree."Someone, save me!" she tried to call for help, but she knew it was pointless. No one would hear it and even if someone did why would they help? Her, the wich half-breed?

Just when she accepted her inevitable fate, something amazing happened. Bright, orange flames surged forward around her, causing the lizards to back away. It was the strangest fire she ever saw. Even though she was completely engulfed by it she was unharmed, yet it burned the ground around her. The fire originated from her hands or rather from the ring she was holding. It grew so warm that with a pained hiss she was forced to let go, the ring falling down at the ground, the brightness of the flames intensified for a moment, blinding Yukari.

When she finally opened her eyes, she let out a silent gasp. Where the ring fell, there was a small lion, not much larger than the average kitten, snarling at her bullies warningly. His mane was literally made from the same orange fire that surrounded them and he had a small metal helmet on the top of his head. But the strangest thing was how familiar he seemed to her for some reason, emitting the same reassuring light the ring she found did.

"What is that thing?" asked one of the lizardmen, eying the witch warily, convinced that it was her doing.

„Seems like Natsu decided to show himself. Now that's interesting." a voice mused behind them, causing them to whirl around alarmed. Sawada Tsunayoshi walked towards them, hands in his pockets, looking like he was just taking a casual stroll, completely ignoring the lizardmen that glared at him.

"Just who do you think you are?" demanded the closest one, angrily swiping at him the moment he came close enough.

In response, Tsuna simply tilted his head, the attack flying over him harmlessly. Then without stopping, he walked past them into the ring of fire that surrounded Yukari. Much to the onlookers' shock, the fire didn't seem to harm him, harmlessly passing over him as he stepped inside. Yet, when the lizard that attacked him, jumped after him, he reeled back with a painful cry as the flames burned him, his scales offering him no protection.

"How-?" she asked, trembling slightly. She was thankful that none of her classmates got through, but she was also wary of Tsuna who she antagonized quite a lot in the past days. Instead of answering, he looked over to her broken wand, watching it with an interested gaze.

"How fascinating." he mused out aloud, his lips lifting to a small smile. "The wand is a medium to safely channel the power, not unlike the way we use rings..." he murmured before turning back to the matter at hand.

He raised an amused eyebrow as he found Yukari standing before Natsu, glaring at him defiantly, hands held out at her side as if she was trying to protect the box animal from him. He crouched down to her eye level, ignoring the protest from his body. Natsu's flames were strongly connected with his own, that was one of the reasons his partner refrained from coming out. He could already feel his body trying to burn up itself and he could be thankful that the raw anger and hate that accompanied the feeling have yet to show up.

When she looked at his eyes, Yukari blinked in astonishment. Instead of the usual, cold brown eyes, there was a certain warmth in the older student's gaze. They also had an orange tint to them as if they reflected the flames dancing around them. But more than that there was that familiar feeling both Natsu and the orange flames radiated, sympathy, pain, and understanding, all of that she could feel from his eyes as if these emotions were her own.

With a happy sound, Natsu suddenly ran past her and scaled up Tsuna's body until he comfortably rested on his shoulder, face next to his. He let out a content „Gao" before looking down at her, seemingly smiling. The former mafioso only chuckled in response, thoroughly amused. The bullies outside the circle of fire went completely ignored by all of them.

"This is Natsu. He is my box animal." Tsuna introduced the small lion as his hand absentmindedly began to pet him, uncaring of the flames he emitted. At Yukari's confused look he explained with a small smile."Suppose you can call my partner or familiar. Still, this little guy is usually so shy it is a wonder he lets people notice him. He normally doesn't seek out anyone, but for some reason he wanted you to meet him, so here we are."

"He doesn't?" she asked, bewildered. If she believed what he said instead of her finding the ring, Natsu was the one who found her for some reason."But why?"

Tsuna didn't answer at first, absently humming as he took a slide glance to the fire surrounding them, aware of time running out, after all especially with his condition he and Natsu did not have limitless flames. No mention of the off chance that these guys had someone with them capable of getting through it.

"Guess, because like you, Natsu and I know what it means to be alone." he said at last, much to her shock. He gave her a sad, but genuine smile."It's a terrible feeling. Being around people and knowing that your existence didn't matter to any of them. If you disappeared the next day, they wouldn't mourn you, wouldn't search for you. But you are not alone." he said as he embraced her, Natsu growled to her softly, poking her with his nose in worry. As she tentatively returned the embrace, he decided to ignore the dampness in his shoulder for the time being.

Despite how much he didn't want to get close to people after what happened with Vongola, he still couldn't help but let Moka and the others in. That is because, just like he told Yukari, being alone is one of the worst things in his mind. And no matter how little he knew her, he was sure that he was not making a mistake in trusting her and opening up to her. Because he knew the words he was saying to the young witch, he wanted to hear the same words from someone when the loneliness became so bad it hurt.

"I used to be the same, you know." he said and had to stop at the sudden surge of emotions that tried to erupt. It has to be said that Tsuna and emotional processing were not remotely acquainted."I had terrible grades and I was very bad at p.e. I was clumsy, I was not the sharpest around, and generally a prime target for bullying. They named me Dame-Tsuna and it got so bad that the whole town knew me by that name. Instead of turning to pranks like you I simply tried to endure, hoping it will get better. And all the while I was alone, no friend, no one." he gave a bitter chuckle as he remembered those dark days."I also 'fell in love' with the first person who showed me kindness, it was a bit pathetic really. I was so embarrassed trying to talk to her, I admired her from afar, getting close to being a stalker." he heard Yukari softly chuckle into his shoulder. Only when he looked at her that he noticed that even he began to cry."But it got better." he told her with a gentle smile, thinking of a ridiculous baby telling him that he will make a mafia boss out of him. She looked up at him in wonder and gave back an unsure one."You are not alone Yukari-chan."

Movement caught his attention as he saw from the corner of his eyes that the fire around them was almost gone, worse, the lizardmen surrounding them now numbered a dozen, apparently, the cowards had some friends laying around. Straightening up, he put a reassuring hand at her shoulder, even as he began to sweat, his body nearing its limit.

"Get ready, Natsu." he said to his partner, receiving an agreeing growl in response. He looked down at Yukari and tried to look as confident as he could. "When I tell you, you have to run as fast as you can, through them, okay?" when she looked up in worry, he gave a weak smile."We will be right behind you, don't worry." At last, she gave a nod in agreement.

Grabbing her hand, they walked to the edge of the fire ring from where the main bully was leering at them.

"Nowhere to run and no help to come." he gloated before them, sharp teeth glinting as he tried to take a bite out of them, but for the time being the fire was enough to hold him back."Give up and maybe you won't suffer as much as the halfbreed.

Yukari tried to burrow herself into his back, while Natsu growled back threateningly, but Tsuna remained unaffected, giving him a fearless smile.

"Yes, I have no chance, no hope, yet here I am smiling. Scary isn't it?" he asked and was pleased to see a few of them shift uneasily, but the leader remained unaffected."The question is, what do I know that you don't?"

"You are bluffing." reported the lizardman before him, but it only caused Tsuna to chuckle, amused by something.

"Look up." he told them simply and in response all of them looked up, staring dumbly at the grenades that were thrown in their direction.

As the grenades blew up, blanking the place in smoke, Tsuna rushed forward, pulling Yukari after him, through the confused lizardmen. While these grenades didn't have much explosive power, they created a useful smokescreen, exactly the thing he needed right now. Pushing his aching body to its limits, he skillfully avoided the half-blind swipes coming their way thanks to his intuition and before long they burst out of the pitch-black smoke.

As soon as his vision cleared, Tsuna began to run towards a familiar group rushing their way, who were calling out in worry.

"Yukari-chan! Tsuna-kun!" cried out Moka when she reached them, quickly embraced a bewildered Yukari in a bear hug."I was so worried."

Tsuna meanwhile fell down to one knee, panting heavily as he tried to fight against his falling body. He looked to the side and gave a thankful nod to Lambo who stood there ready to cry, along with Tsukune and Kurumu. But the person that surprised him was Gin, who just smirked down at him, hands casually in his pockets, watching the still confused lizardmen from the corner of his eyes.

"Since when do you move out of your doghouse?" he asked a little snidely from the club president, though there was no real feeling behind his words.

"Since I have to get you out of trouble." Gin replied, causing Tsuna to give a bark of laugh as he forced himself to stand up and eyed the dissipating smoke.

The others hovered around Yukari, making sure she was alright. Yukari had tears in her eyes, though these were more from relief than anything else as she held onto the vampire with all her strength.

"I'm sorry." she whispered softly, but the others heard it all the same.

"I understand. It's tough being alone, isn't it Yukari-chan?" Moka smiled down at her gently. "I as well, have been alone for a long time, but in the end, I found friends of my own." she smiled up the others around her as she said that, eying the brown-haired teen for a little longer. "That's why I want to help you and that's why we couldn't leave you behind." the young witch only began to cry harder at her words.

Thanks to the height difference between them and the look on her face, the scene reminded Tsuna of a mother comforting her child. Just for a moment, Moka looked far older than she should be, but after a blink, everything looked the same.

"I'm also sorry about before." told her Tsukune, giving her a sincere smile."Let me help you too. So don't think of yourself as alone anymore, Yukari-chan."

The whole situation was very sweet and Tsuna hated to break it up, but the smokescreen Lambo created was almost gone and a dozen angry lizardmen would be on them any minute.

"I'm all for emotional speeches and all that, but it's not over yet." he reminded them, causing them to separate and look at him a little guiltily.

As if a switch had been flipped his whole demeanor turned serious, gaining an edge that demanded respect and attention. It was such a sudden, jarring difference to his usual demeanor that everyone turned to listen to him, even Gin lost his smile as he waited for Tsuna to speak.

"Moka, Gin, and I will take on these guys, but you have to go, take Yukari, Kurumu and Lambo with you and make a little distance so we could concentrate on the enemy. Here," he tossed him a small case full of little, colorless pills." if you don't have any other choice took one, but not until it's absolutely necessary, you hear me?" he asked sternly and only continued after Tsukune gave an unsure nod as he clutched the small case."Lambo, if you need to use the ten-year bazooka and keep Yukari safe."Lambo nodded in agreement, already pulling out the pink weapon from who knows where."Natsu, stay with them." the small lion jumped down from his shoulders and ran to Yukari who was quick to scoop him up and hold him close to herself."Go!" Tsuna ordered when they didn't move, with mute nods they were quick to run in the direction of the school building, leaving the 3 of them to take care of the lizardmen.

"So, what's the plan?" asked Gin as he carefully released his power, a though refraining from a full transformation.

"You are the fastest among us. I need you to make sure that no one could get through us." the werewolf grinned in response, feeling his lust for battle rise at the excuse to cut loose. Tsuna turned to Moka who watched him with a resolute look. "I need Ura-chan's help for that one." she nodded and with permission given he reached up and pulled down the rosary that sealed away her power. With a burst of potent energy, Omote was replaced by the silver-haired Ura, who only cocked an eyebrow as she looked over him.

"You really need my help against small fry like that?" she asked with a light frown, but he understood the unasked question of "Are you in a condition to fight?"

While he could fool others he was aware that both Moka and Gin noticed how weary he was and he had trouble standing up, let alone do anything. Also, only Ura was aware of his worsening condition, so he was thankful that she didn't voice anything out.

"Better safe than sorry." he said in the end diplomatically, before gulping down the dying will pill that he grabbed before giving the case to Tsukune. With a grimace, he closed his eyes as if his whole body was fighting against the effect before a small fire appeared on his forehead. It was a darker shade of orange than Tsukune's and also noticeably smaller. As he opened his eyes, only the white of it could be seen as he let out a snarl towards the incoming bullies."I'll protect Yukari as if I were to die."

"What is that?" asked Gin, a weird look on his face as he felt something change around his underclassman.

"The dying will." said softly Moka, looking at the former mafioso in former interest.

"No time for chit-chat." interrupted Tsuna as the lizardmen reached them.

"You think you're so smart?" snarled the leader, backed up by his brethren."Don't make light of us, weaklings. We will make mincemeat out of you." he declared as he ran forward, arms raised in attack.

Before anyone could react, Tsuna was already charging as well, straight ahead. But instead of blocking or attacking, he swiftly avoided the charging lizard, slipping past him and into the midst of the others. They all screamed in rage and went to attack him as well, but with his quick reflexes, he came out unscathed. Focusing on him, left most of them unprepared when Gin and Moka attacked. Two of them fallen into sweet unconsciousness, courtesy of a fast barrage of punches from the werewolf, while the vampire took out four lizardmen with a single kick.

"What the hell are you?" asked one bully fearfully, before he was knocked out by Tsuna who used his confusion to his advantage, leaving only five of the original twelve lizardmen.

"I suggest you run." he said with a smile, though with the dying will fire blazing on his forehead, it looked more vicious.

"Like I would do that!" roared their leader, before he was taken out in an instant by an annoyed Moka.

"Small fry. After all, you are the kind of garbage that can only wield power against weaker beings." she told them. Seeing more than half of them taken out in a minute and witnessing their leader taken out in an instant was enough for the four still conscious lizards and they simply run away, crying for mercy, even leaving behind their fallen.

"Well that was easier than I thought." commented Gin, arms behind his head as he carelessly walked among the unconscious bodies."Now, if you excuse me, I have a few matters to attend to. See you guys later." with a perverse sounding laugh he walked away, whistling to himself.

"He never learns, does he?" Moka asked rhetorically, before looking at Tsuna, who exited dying will mode, a small trail of blood coming from the side of his mouth. "That was reckless of you." she said matter of factly, before reaching out, scooping up the blood with her finger, licking it, and savoring the taste.

Tsuna tried very hard not to dwell, how the scene looked on the outside, or any strange thoughts involving the vampire before him. Instead, he gave a weak smile in response, even as he winced as every part of his body hurt.

"Sorry." he said in the end.

They stayed silent until Tsukune and the others reached them, seeing the fighting end.

"Moka-san! Tsuna-san! You're okay." cheered the black-haired human, relieved.

"Moka is as brutal as ever." commented softly Kurumu, looking over the carnage left behind warily.

Before more could be seen, a small witch-shaped missile launched itself at Tsuna, who had to take a step back to remain standing as Yukari buried her head into his chest, sobs wracking her body. Natsu was behind her, looking worriedly at his partner.

"I'm sorry, I did not mean to cause trouble. I'm sorry, please don't leave." she cried without control.

Tsuna wore a troubled expression on his face, looking at the others to help, before he gently embraced the girl, patting his back a little awkward.

"I'm not going anywhere Yukari-chan." he assured her as the others looked on with smiles on their faces."You are not alone anymore."

"Let's be friends from now on Yukari-chan." joined Tsukune, Kurumu nodding in agreement. Yukari raised her head from Tsuna's chest to nod at them meekly, a wobbly smile on her face.

Tsuna raised his head, a half-smile forming on his face, but as soon as he noticed a figure standing behind his friends he froze, body tensing instantly. He was a tall blonde man, with a hairstyle similar to his, wearing a suit, with a long, black cape draped over him, and most alarmingly the dying will flame of sky blazing on his forehead. He looked at him with knowing orange eyes, staring into his soul.

"Vongola Primo." he mouthed, shocked beyond measure.

He looked just like he did when he met him and the other past bosses inside the vongola ring. He smiled down at him, gentle, understanding, and guilty at the same time. He did not know how he really felt about his ancestor, the man who created the Vongola, who indirectly made him the candidate for the position of Vongola Decimo.

"That time is coming closer." Primo told him, his words ringing in his mind with an ominous undertone. "Soon it will be your time, Decimo." he said before stepping away and disappearing as if he was nothing more than a mirage. Maybe that was all it was.

And without warning, he felt so tired, his legs buckled and he would have fallen if not for Moka's strong grip on him.

"Are you alright?" she asked, her sharp eyes watching him for any other sign. The others also looked worried.

"Guess I'm more tired than I thought. My bad." he gave them a strained smile, trying to calm them down. He looked at Moka from the corner of his eyes, telling her silently to let it go for now. "Natsu." he called out to his box animal, who looked at him solemnly, before jumping up towards his hand, his whole body becoming fire, before he returned to his ring form, safely on his hand.

"What's wrong?" asked Yukari worriedly, neither Tsukune or Kurumu looking convinced.

Tsuna looked at the vampire for help, who had to sigh at the whole thing.

"I'll bring this idiot back to his room to rest." she told them, still holding up the former mafioso."You should take Yukari to the school nurse, to make sure she will be alright." the other two teens looked at each other uncertainly, before nodding and herding a still worried Yukari away, Lambo going with them. When it was only two of them and the groaning thugs they beat up, Moka glared at him, more because of frustration than anything, and began to lead him away."Let's go." she said curtly.

"Sure." he said, giving her a thankful smile. "Mind if we make a quick stop on the way?" he did not need to see her face to knew she rolled her eyes at him.

-0-

Sawada Nana sang to herself cheerfully as she prepared dinner, twirling around her kitchen. Futa and I-Pin were upstairs, working on their homework, so the house was mostly silent. She let out a rare frown at the thought. She has gotten so used to it, it was a little depressing to have the house feel empty. Her husband was still overseas working, Reborn and Bianchi returned to Italy and with Tsuna off in high school, his friends didn't come over to visit. No, she had to admit, that even before her son left, they stopped coming over. Sometimes even she got lonely.

She was shaken out of her gloomy thoughts when the phone started to ring. A smile once again graced her face as she picked up, greeting the other side with her usual cheerfulness.

"Sawada Residence."

"Hey, mom." greeted her Tsuna on the phone. He sounded a little tired and a little out of breath as he spoke, but it was impossible to miss the note of happiness in his voice.

"Tsu-kun. What'swrong?" a mother's intuition was very strong, it only took a few words for Nana to knew something was wrong. Tsuna only called home once since he went to his new school, to tell her that Lambo won't be back until summer and even then he talked very little about himself. For him to call her, something must have happened.

She heard Tsuna chuckle to himself, the sound instantly easing her worries. It had been a while since she heard her Tsu-kun laugh so sincerely.

"Nothing wrong, guess I'm just more tired than I thought." he reassured her, though she heard someone talking to him quietly, and it was definitely a girl's voice. She barely restrained herself to gush about her son with a cute girlfriend, not wanting to scare them. But a girl! Maybe her dreams for grandchildren weren't so far off into the future than she thought.

"How is school? Did you make any friends?" she asked instead, trying to hear more about her son's life.

"Yes, I did actually." he stayed silent for a moment, before letting out a light chuckle. "They are quite strange, but I honestly like them. We even joined a club, the newspaper club and things are...fun." he told her, sounding a little uncertain in the end, but she couldn't help but cheer inside. Her son always had trouble finding friends and it warmed her heart to know he was making new ones.

"That sounds pretty interesting. You will have to send any papers you do to me so I can see the work of my Tsu-kun."

"Sure. Though we mostly go after ghost stories and the like, so be prepared for some fiction." he said, chuckling to himself for some reason. "How are things at home?" there was a note of worry in his voice that even she could hear easily.

"Everything's fine, don't worry." she reassured him, a slight smile on her face. Her precious Tsu-kun was acting so mature, he was growing up to be a gentleman just like his father."It's a little quiet with just I-pin-chan and Futa-kun since both of them are just so behaved all the time. Oh, you just missed Haru-chan visiting."

"Haru?" he asked, sounding a little surprised.

"Yes, she's such a sweet girl. She asked me to teach her to cook a few recipes and it's nice to have a helping hand around. Sometimes she brings her friend, Hana-chan too." she added, though it was really rare for Hana to show up.

"Hana?" Tsuna's voice sounded disbelieving. "No offense, but I thought she was the last one who would ever want to cook." he muttered to himself, but Nana decided to let it go.

"I almost forgot, Ryohei-kun asked to give you a message."

"What did he want?" her Tsu-kun's voice was not exactly cold but guarded, something that appeared not long before he left for school. It worried her a great deal.

"He used to visit me during his morning runs" she told him." and he asked to tell you that he will be out of town for a few months, he will be going to a training camp for an upcoming sumo wrestling tournament and he thought you would be interested in it, I guess. Isn't that wonderful?." truth be told, she never heard about sumo wrestling before, but kids always came up with new games, so she was not surprised.

"Sumo wrestling?" there was something in his voice as he said that, but for the life of her she couldn't tell what it was."Thanks."

"You are welcome." they talked for a few more minutes about insignificant things, before it came to say goodbye."Take care of yourself Tsu-kun."

"I will don't worry. Bye Mom." he said to her warmly, before the connection ended.

As she put down the phone, she couldn't help but frown once again. She did not have the heart to tell her Tsu-kun that he sounded just like his father, whenever he told her not to worry. But he never liked being compared to his father for some reason, so she did not say anything.

-0-

Tsuna had a rare warm smile on his face as he rested his head on the cold surface of the wall after he talked with his mother. After the day he had, he felt the unexplainable urge to talk with his mom, to reassure her that he was alright. Because lately even he began to believe that he will be alright.

"Your mom sounds...normal." commented Moka, sounding a little uncertain. She was still in her unsealed form but stopped radiating that unmistakable pressure of energy that just raised every survival instinct of his.

"That's my mom." said Tsuna, smiling at her, just simply feeling happy." She can be a little oblivious, a little airhead at times, but she is the best in the world.

„That must be nice." Moka had a faraway look in her eyes as she said that. He was tempted to ask about her mother but thought better of it. If she ever wanted to talk he would be there for her, just as she was for him, but he wouldn't force it.

"Come on, let's go while I can still walk." he stepped away from the wall, with the intention of walking, before he promptly lost feeling in his legs. He would have fallen on his face if Moka was not fast enough to catch him. "Thanks." he breathed out as he leaned on her, not able to stand up properly."Now you know why I don't use the dying will myself. With the state I am now, even materializing Natsu takes too much out of me."

"It's getting worse, isn't it?" she asked, as she began to lead them towards the male dormitories. Despite her usually very scary demeanor, she was very gentle with him as they walked.

"Little by little, yes. I probably should be much worse off if it wasn't for you sucking my blood regularly." he told her, trying to keep his awareness up, but it felt like a losing battle. He was tired, physically and emotionally and Moka's presence even in her unsealed form had a very relaxing effect on him. And he felt so sleepy all of the sudden.

"And how do you even knew that me sucking your blood could help?" she asked after a few moments, only to receive no response from the former mafioso. Looking to the side, she was surprised to see his face so close to hers as he rested it on her shoulder, sleeping soundly. A soft smile sneaked on her face even as she rolled her eyes in annoyance."Idiot." she murmured fondly, before picking him up properly and continuing her walk toward the dormitory.

-0-

"What are you looking at so intently?" wondered Tsukune as he looked at Tsuna in question.

It was a few days after the confrontation against Yukari's class representative and Tsukune, Tsuna, Lambo, and Gin were lunging around the newspaper room, while Kurumu and Moka went to bring some supplies for their first real paper. Gin was sound asleep at the teacher's desk, while Lambo most alarmingly was polishing grenades for some reason or other. Tsuna, on the other hand, was oblivious to that, intently watching something in his hands, deaf to the world.

They did not see Yukari since then, though heard that she stopped her pranks and apologized to her whole class. From the lizardmen they had nothing to fear, after the sound beating they got, they will think twice before bullying anyone again. Still, even now, Tsukune gave suspicious stares to any broom they came across much the other human's amusement.

"Hmm?" Tsuna asked back absentmindedly, turning his attention toward the other human. he was pale and still had dark circles under his eyes, but he looked much better than a few days ago. As he lowered his hand, Tsukune could see the object in it, a small protection charm. It was dark blue, with an image of a fish on it. It looked very cute."This is a charm from a friend." he replied when he saw where his attention was focused, before simply putting it back to his picket, unwilling to talk about it anymore.

He wouldn't get a chance to, because at that very moment the door opened and a blur raced towards Tsuna, catching the former mafioso completely off-guard. With a cry of 'Onii-san!' the bluer collided with him, ending with the both of them on the ground with a loud thud that was able to wake up Gin, who looked around confused.

Withholding a groan of pain, he looked down at what ran into him, meeting the smiling face of Yukari. The young girl was clinging to his waist, not letting him go for a moment. She also was missing her signature hat, though it could be more like due to her sudden sprint than anything.

"Yo." he greeted her calmly, while he stood up without struggling, Yukari still attached to him. She beamed in response to his greeting.

"I'm the newest member of the newspaper club. Isn't that awesome Tsuna-nii-san?" she asked brightly.

Tsuna raised an eyebrow in question at being called nii-san but humored her all the same. In the end, she was not a bad kid, just a bit lonely, and being a pseudo sibling was much better than a preadolescent girl having a crush on him.

He looked to the door, finding Moka and Kurumu walking in after Yukari, the supplies in their hands and her hat in the latter's hands. The vampire sent him a bright smile as they placed down their supplies.

"Seems like Yukari-chan changed into a very good girl. She will be a good addition to the club, a new friend to spend time with." she said cheerily, somehow calming down Tsukune who looked very much worried since the moment Yukari appeared.

What they forgot to take into the equation was Lambo, who stopped what he was doing and was looking at them curiously, before launching himself at Tsuna, who struggled to remain standing with two kids clinging into him, the young boy scowling at Yukari.

"Tsuna-nii is my nii-san, get yourself another." he told her, sticking out his tongue at her.

"No way." instead of a mature answer, for once she decided to act like her age and began to childishly argue with the young hitman. "Tsuna-nii-san is my nii-san. And he has to marry Moka-nee-san so we could have a happy big family." she declared, causing various reactions from her audience.

Kurumu began laughing as she heard that, tears gathering her eyes as she enjoyed herself. Tsukune, on the other hand, looked like someone punched him in the gut, gaping at Yukari, while Gin seemed to choke on nothing, and held onto his desk, as he tried to remain upright. From where he stood, Tsuna could practically sense the embarrassment radiating from Moka as she made a very realistic imitation of a tomato, before turning away and hiding her face in her hands. Yet, he could see peeking out, looking at him with a hard to decipher gaze.

For his part, he was only mildly exasperated as he was placed in the middle of two annoying kids' tug-of-war. He did not even raise an eyebrow when the first grenade sailed through the air, filling the room with smoke as it exploded, nor when the first chairs began to rise in the air to pepper Lambo with uncanny accuracy. All he did was send Moka a look as if saying 'I told you so'. Still, he could not keep the fond smile away from his face. No matter how much he would state otherwise, he loved days like this. Who needed peaceful, boring days when they could have ones like these?

He still rolled his eyes when he heard what could be laughing from Natsu's ring.

"Yeah, yeah. You can shut up any time." he told his partner, without really meaning to.

In the middle of their squabbling, the two younger kids let him go, so he was free to navigate the warzone to Moka's side, opening the door and letting some of the smoke out, and making a much-needed escape route available.

"Listen up kids." he called out loudly and as one, the two of them stopped what they were doing to look at him in question. Yukari froze in the middle of waving her new magical wand, while Lambo was in the middle of pulling out the ten-year bazooka. Looks like he intervened in time. "Since I do not have the patience to see you squabble like children, we will decide things with a simple competition. The one who can catch Tsukune first will be the winner and can call me nii-san." he said pointing at the shocked teen.

They turned their attention towards Tsukune, their moves almost robotic as they concentrated on him. Feeling a shiver ran up his spine at the killing intent suddenly aimed at him, Tsukune turned to his part-time teacher, part-time tormentor.

"Why do I have to get involved? Can't you think of something else?" he pleaded, even as he slowly inched in the direction of the door, ready to run at the first sign of trouble.

"Don't want to." Tsuna replied, without the smallest hint of guilt in his voice. Tsukune just gaped at him in shock. "I don't feel like training you right now, so it will be a nice alternative. Suggest you run." like the devil was chasing him, the black-haired teen ran through the door, Lambo and Yukari on his heels. Those that remained could hear his panicked cries slowly fading away with the distance.

Tsuna went back to sit down once again, a satisfied smile on his face, only to run into Moka who glared at him, with puffed up cheeks, that were honestly more cute than anything.

"What?" he asked, but she only continued to stare at him. "it's better if it's him than me. And anyway it's useful training." he defended himself, even as he turned around to walk after the rampaging horde that the two kids became to at least retrieve Tsukune after he was caught.

And then spend the rest of the day wondering, how Moka could make him do something like this, without even saying a word.

-0-

"Go shi Yushu, go shi Yushu, go shi yushunoshu." sang Lambo happily as he brushed his teeth with enthusiasm. After all, with the amount of candy he ate, he had to take really great care of his teeth.

Tsuna only smiled as he heard Lambo singing, before going back to finish the last of his homework. Like most subjects, History was never his strongest, especially, when they taught them human history with bits of youkai history thrown into the mix. And of course, the bits relating to Mafia history that Reborn forced him to learn were more like fiction to the rest of the world. Figures.

"I finished, Tsuna-nii." said Lambo, walking over, after he finished brushing his teeth. He wore a cow-themed one-piece pajama, very similar to the one that he wore most of his younger years.

"Good. Go to sleep, I will go too after finishing this." he said, indicating to the paper before him. For once, the young boy did not put up a fuss and went to bed.

He continued to work silence for a few minutes, as Lambo slowly fell asleep and began to softly snore. After that, he packed away his work and gently poked Lambo in the stomach to check he was fully asleep. He had a habit of pretending to sleep, mostly when he wanted some candy for a midnight snack. When the boy didn't steer, Tsuna went back to his desk, satisfied, and pulled ut a bunch of items, before sitting down and looking at them with a calculating gaze.

Natsu's ring was placed down, next to the gun Tsuna got from Reborn and the few remaining dying will bullets he had on him. On the other side rested his X-Gloves in their inactive form and the case of dying will pills. There was also a small paper with the word hallucinations written over it and two names, Vongola Primo and Massimo Vongola on it. In the center was the small message from Reborn, 'remember Kokuyo' and the charm he got from Kyoko so long ago.

He leaned back on his chair as he thought about what to do. He could walk away, forget about all of this. His time with the Vongola was over, it would be logical to just forget the whole thing and try to move forward. He was no longer a mafioso, just a simple human, yet here he was. No matter how much he would have liked otherwise, he still wasn't the type of person who could easily walk away from something like this.

"You will own me one for this, Reborn." he said at last to himself, picking up the charm, inspecting it. Then without a moment's hesitation, he harshly ripped apart the small cloth, catching the two small items falling out of it. One was a small memory card, while the other was a folded piece of paper. Unfolding it, he saw a telephone number on it."What have you gotten into?" he couldn't help but wonder as he sat in the dark room, pondering the mystery before him.

-0-

** Bonus scene: **

While Tsuna chased mysteries, on the other side of the world, in a secluded mansion in Italy, a secret meeting was being conducted. The mansion was known to a very few, a retreat of the Vongola Bosses, where they could work with those they trusted the most and only when they didn't even trust their own people not to betray them.

In a darkened study, behind an ornate desk sat Timoteo Vongola, also knows as Volgola Nono. The old mafioso looked even older, even weathered than usual. His eyes that once burned through the will of seasoned killers with a single glance, stared ahead blankly, almost soullessly. He looked just like a frail old man, tired of life, tired of its struggles.

Before him stood an Italian man with short blonde hair and a short goatee on his chin. He looked a very fine Italian suit, stood ramrod straight with a strong, unyielding aura. He was the leader of the CEDEF, the outside advisor of the strongest Mafia family, Sawada Iemitsu. He had a small file in his hands, that he was looking into while he gave his report.

The third figure was sitting a little away from them, in a way that not even the faint moonlight could illuminate his face, shrouding him in darkness, save for his left hand where a small ring could be seen, the Vongola Sky ring. From time to time, he reached over with his right hand, and idly played with him, looking like he was enjoying himself.

"How is he?" the third man asked out of nowhere, cutting off Iemitsu rudely. Though neither he nor Timetio reacted, save for a brief flash of annoyance from the outside advisor.

"According to our reports, he is still alive, even though the poison is clearly working. His body and mind continue to deteriorate, although at a smaller rate than estimated."There was absolutely no emotion in his voice as he answered. That sent the darkened figure cackling in an eerie fashion, rocking back and forth on his chair, almost bowling over.

"How wonderful! I love when things don't go according to plan!" he laughed for a whole minute before as if a switch had been switched, he turned serious and stared down Iemitsu."Send a few hitmen after him then. Freelancers, those who couldn't be traced to us. After all it wouldn't look well to connect Vongola to his death. Don't you agree, Nono?" the old leader didn't react in any way, but he still began laughing once again."That's what I like to hear."

Iemitsu simply nodded to him, making a note for himself, before continuing the report as if nothing happened.

Up above them, hiding in a secure spot was a baby wearing a fine-made suit, eavesdropping. He had curly black sideburns and a yellow pacifier. He was Reborn, the Sun Arcobaleno, and the Strongest Hitman. A small hat hid most of his furious expression, but the clenching of his fist was unmistakable. He came here, infiltrated this mansion, because of the suspicions he had and sadly they were confirmed. From what he found already and what he just heard, there could be no mistake, dark times are coming.

'You better survive, Dame-Tsuna.' was his last thought before the inevitable happened and he was discovered.

"What do we have here?" asked a dark voice full of malice.

-0-

"What's wrong Tsuna-kun?" asked Moka curiously as they walked next to each other.

Since the others didn't feel up to exploring the city after what happened yesterday, the two of them alone left the hotel they were staying in. And it was nice, to spend time with each other, without anything dangerous or troublesome looming over their heads. Yet, ever since breakfast, Tsuna had a distracted expression on his face, sometimes only half-heartedly responding to her.

Being caught and seeing no point in lying, he sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

"Sorry about this." he apologized, especially since it was rare nowadays that they could just talk with only the two of them."It's just...for some reason today was highlighted in my calendar, so something important was supposed to happen today, but no matter how much I rack my brain, I can't think of anything.

"Maybe someone's birthday is today?" the vampire tried to guess."Or maybe you simply wanted to remind yourself about the summer trip? she asked, but Tsuna shook his head, deep in thought.

"No, that's not it. That calendar was from home, I really didn't use it since I started to go to Youkai Academy, so what could it be?"

"Maybe Lambo or others would know? Why don't you ask them when we got back to the hotel?" she offered, trying to help him figure out this problem.

"Lambo, Lambo..." he mumbled to himself, as he felt as if he was almost at the right answer. "That's it." he cried out, stopping in place as he remembered. Moka looked at him with a curious tilt of her head. "I remember now. The day Spanner tried to recalibrate the bazooka. This is today. Moka, what's the time?" he asked, looking around for a clock.

"It's almost eleven o'clock, why?" the young girl was beyond confused, but thinking about it, it was not an uncommon thing around the former mafioso.

„Oh, damn it, it's almost time." he quickly began to pat himself down, ensuring he had everything necessary on him. Natsu's ring, his x-gloves, dying will pills."Ok, Moka, you listen carefully. You have to take care of me, don't let me discover any big thing about my future, not what happened with the vongola or the others and I definitely can't found out about your or the others monster nature, got it." he asked her, but the poor girl was completely lost.

"I don't get it. What are you talking about? What's happening today?"

"We don't have much time." he insisted, then took a breath, trying to tell her as quickly as he could. "Two years ago a friend tried to modify Lambo's ten-year bazooka, I was hit by it, but was only sent forward two years. I was sent here today. I tried to remind myself so it wouldn't-" he was cut off as he felt a quite similar weightless sensation as he instantly traveled in time. Pink smoke blocked his vision, but at least this time, he remained standing."-like this." he finished lamely as the smoke began to clear around him.

He did not have a long time to ponder if he reappeared where he thought he would when worried voices cried out around him.

"Juudaime!"

"Hahi! Tsuna-san!"

"Tsuna!"

"Tsuna-kun?"

"Sawada! Are you extremely alright?"

Despite knowing where he would be going back, to times that once he thought were the happier times, he was still stocked to come face to face with the younger versions of his former guardians and friends. Gokudera, Yamamoto, Onii-san, Haru, Kyoko were standing around him at the grounds of Namimori Middle, some looking worried, some gaping at him in astonishment. He could even spot a snot-faced Lambo, a suspiciously watching Reborn and a sheepish Spanner not far from them.

A lot of emotions began to fight inside him at seeing them again, so young this time. On one side he was happy, glad to see them. It was those happy, peaceful days after they came back from the future, where he began to believe that all will be right. On the other hand, it was hard to forget what happened after the inheritance ceremony, how his 'family' fell apart. Still, these days may be lost to him, now he had Moka and the others and he was quite close to saying that he was happy to be with them.

This war of emotions went through him in a few seconds, leaving him in a hard to identify emotional state. Instead, he chose to default to a neutral response.

"Two years younger and you're all so short." he deadpanned at them with no emotion on his face. Their reaction was funny as hell, all of them looking at him shocked as if they never expected him to say something like that. Come to think of it, his younger self did not have Tsukune to torment or Gin to egg on each other. Oh, well.

The ice was broken when Ryohei began to laugh loudly, the others joining him, amused by the older Tsuna's response. But the easy atmosphere was soon broken when a familiar skylark appeared at the edge of the school grounds. tonfas already out and on a warpath.

"The school is not in session, the grounds are off-limits. Everyone who fails to obey will be bitten to death." threatened the president of the disciplinary committee.

„Bastard, who do you think you are telling Juudaime where to-" he was cut off as Tsuna simply walked past him towards Hibari with a smirk on his face. "Juudaime?"

"Yo, Hibari." he greeted his former cloud, ignoring the menacing scowl sent his way."If I remember correctly, Spanner's modified bazooka works for around 2 hours, so I have time to kill." he placed his mittens on, Hibari eying the older omnivore with minuscule interest."So, let's fight."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, I'm not sure if it counts as a Sneak Peek, where it's around 1/12 of the whole chapter. Oh well, I hope you enjoyed it.
> 
> Little interesting trivia: The song Lambo was singing was a Japanese song for kids, that teaches teeth brushing. Its name is hamigaki no u ta. It's a nice, little song.


	7. A birthday to die for - Tsukune

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsukune and gets into trouble, Tsuna will have to deal with a few things he wanted to avoid for the time being and girls are suddenly end up missing in the school?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I present you the first and possibly last Tsukune pov chapter. I debated about making Tsuna leave for this chapter but it was planned from the start so I decided to stick with it. The next chapter will show you what went around Tsuna's side and finally the proper appearance of a few khr characters. This chapter is focused on Tsukune's development, but after Tsuna properly awakens his powers he would have the spotlight for the most part
> 
> Cover: A painting was shown with Tsukune on it running away from something. Moka stood next to the painting, a bandana covering her hair, paint dried on her face, holding a palette in her hands. She looked surprised as she watched Tsuna with a grin on his face busy drawing some big monster next to Tsukune.

Since he began to study at Youkai Academy, Tsukune thought a lot about whether he was lucky or not. On one hand, during middle school, he was living the life of a perfectly ordinary human. He had gone to school day after day, sat through the classes, didn't do remarkably well at physical activities, and went home in the end, read Manga, watched anime, and played video games. He had a few friends, but none of them very close, they would fell out of contact as soon they ended up in different high schools.

He had dreams of wanting to do something extraordinary with his life but who didn't? He was completely ordinary, his whole world was ordinary and he was fine with that. The least ordinary thing in his life was his tomboy cousin.

Yet ever since he stepped into that bus heading into the youkai academy, his life certainly changed. He was now in a school for monsters as one of the only two humans on campus. Add to that if their true origins were to be discovered they would be killed on the spot. He was also apparently a magnet for trouble because ever since the semester started he seemed to be attacked by various monsters every other week, for one reason or another.

Despite these, there were several positive changes in his life. He was never really bored and he found a very good if a little oddball group of friends in the members of the newspaper club.

Tsuna was the only other human student in the academy, and even though he made his life hell most of the time he was a true friend. He was distant, rude, tight-lipped about his life and past, seemed to outright look past him at times, sadistic to the point of constantly blowing up him in the name of training, push him into various dangerous and highly embarrassing situations, like when he bound his arms and legs together placed a large sign on him saying free target and left him at the archery club, routinely booby-trapped his room while he slept, and scared him to the death. But still, whenever he was truly in trouble he had his back, he was honest in a confusing blunt manner, and thanks to him, Tsukune never really felt alone in this whole bizarre situation.

Lambo was closer to Tsuna than him, most of the time obnoxious, and one of the main reasons he was getting blown up so often, but underneath the annoying traits, he was a good kid. Yukari likewise was much closer to Tsuna and he still felt the need to keep an eye on brooms when she was around.

He could hardly call Gin a friend, but nonetheless, he liked the older student despite his perverted personality. He could be dependable, though it mostly hinged on his mood and his passive-aggressive completions against Tsuna was funny to witness when he was not inadvertently involved in them.

Kurumu was also one of his close friends, though one he constantly found himself surprised by. Instead of the slightly vain and manipulative girl he first encountered, who hypnotized him, she became a funny, kind, and dependable girl, who he was happy to have as a friend. Though most of the time he was caught off guard by her affections towards him, being called her destined one, it helped his confidence when she always looked at him first, and not Tsuna who he compared himself to sometimes, coming up short most of the time.

And finally, there was Moka. The beautiful and kind vampire, who called him her friend, even after she learned he was a human. She was his first friend, he could even go as far as to say, he only has gotten to know Tsuna because he also gravitated towards her. And who can blame him? She was intelligent, compassionate and the most kind-hearted person he ever knew, human or youkai.

He was aware of the very large crush he had on her, heck, if Tsuna's constant comments were anything to go by, everyone was aware of it, save for the object of affection. He could also admit, that he was quite jealous that despite his hardest to be noticed by Moka, she and Tsuna seemed to be closer by the day. It was a maddening revelation. Especially, whenever he wondered whether it would have changed anything if it was him Moka drank from for the first time, not the brown-haired teen.

Despite these conflicting feelings, the training straight from hell, and the weird happenings around that they encountered on a weakly basis, Tsukune could honestly tell you that he didn't regret not leaving the school the first chance he got and he loved every minute of it.

That is why he was perplexed when one of the cornerstones of his new life was taken away from him.

"What do you mean there is no training?" he asked, not understanding.

He was standing in front of Tsuna's dorm room, ready for the morning training that usually consisted of him trying to get through minefields, pits filled with snakes, and the like. He already felt something amiss, when instead of the usual rude awakening, he woke up by himself, his torturer nowhere in sight.

"It means I'm not in the mood to train you." Tsuna told him, sounding a moment away from falling asleep.

Looking closer to him, he didn't look very good. Most of these days, predicting Tsuna's condition was a gamble at best. Sometimes he simply looked pale and a little tired, while there were days where he looked as if he had a fever and sometimes had difficulty simply stand. Other days he was fine physically but had a hair-trigger temper that left everyone with the exceptions of Moka and Yukari wary of him. Tsukune asked many times what was wrong with him, but he remained tight-lipped and upped his training whenever he tried to be stubborn.

Now he looked fine physically save for the increasingly larger, dark circles under his eyes. His hair was a mess and he didn't even change out of his pajamas even though by this time he used to be out in the open, running Tsukune ragged. It looked like he was once again in one of his lethargic days, Tsukune thought to himself.

"But what should I do then?" no matter how much he suffered, he didn't want to skip training. It hurt a lot, yes, but he wanted to be stronger, wanted to be someone who can stand next to Moka, and not have to rely on others to save him.

"No idea. But I'm going back to sleep." Tsuna said with a wide yawn, before abruptly slamming the door into Tsukune's face, leaving the stunned boy alone in the hallway.

-0-

"This isn't working at all." Tsukune grumbled to himself as he leaned on the fridge and tried to get his breath back.

He was in their usual clearing after he decided to try and train by himself if his trainer was unwilling, but had little success. He did a few basic exercises to limber up, something he never had the chance with Tsuna then went to the only equipment he could use, the fridge he pulled after himself most of the time. He was surprised how light it felt without all the added weight and with no grenades flying around, but he still felt he accomplished little. Tsuna's methods probably had a reason for them, but he never told him, so he did not know what he was supposed to use to train himself. It felt frustrating, like a lot of things in his life lately.

His birthday was almost here, yet he still not had the courage to confess to Moka. He tried to muster up the courage many times, but every time either someone interrupted them or they found themselves running from another out of control monster. With the addition of Yukari to their group, she sabotaged him every time, when he tried to talk to the vampire alone, insisting that Tsuna and Moka were destined to be. As if they needed any more encouragement.

He also felt homesick nowadays. This school could be so alien sometimes, that many times he felt it became too much for him. He tried to talk to his parents, mainly his mom at least once a week, but it wasn't enough to quench the feeling. Here, he felt so out of place. Like he was just the other human, Tsuna's boring sidekick or the guy who runs around in a boxer. He knew he shouldn't feel like this, but he didn't want to stay as just an ordinary guy. He wanted to find who Aono Tsukune really was.

He pulled out of his pocket a small pill and stared at it in contemplation. He was not proud of it, but when Tsuna and the others fought Yukari's bullies, he grabbed a dying will pill and put it deep in his pockets. He was sure Tsuna would be furious if he learned this, but the truth was, he didn't want to depend on the brown-haired teen all the time.

He was broken from his thoughts when a voice called out to him.

"Good morning, Tsukune-kun!" a cheerful voice sounded to his right, surprising him so much that he jumped up and almost dropped the dying will pill he was holding.

With his heart beating wildly, he looked over and saw a young girl with cyan-colored hair walking towards him, holding a small bag and smiling at him wildly.

"Kurumu-san?" he asked, sounding a little unsure. They usually met after his training when they went to the school building. While he was training it was mostly him, along with Tsuna and Lambo. Even Moka-san only joined just a few times.

Kurumu pouted at him as she walked closer, which made her very cute, though Tsukune forced that thought back down.

"Please call me, Kurumu-chan, Tsukune-kun. After all, you, my destined one, more than earned that honor." she told him, causing him to blush in embarrassment. Sometimes he envied her for being able to so bold in declaring things like that, but he never knew how to feel about her claims.

"Ku-Kurumu-chan." he stuttered out, at last, causing the succubus to let out a very bright grin. Other than his cousin he never had female friends his age, so he was unused to calling anyone with the chan suffix."What are you doing here?" he wondered out loud.

"Don't you want to spend time with me?" she asked with a pout, before instantly changing it into a smile as she sat down next to him."I brought some breakfast since you mentioned you normally don't have time for one after your training." Tsukune felt touched by the gesture. It was true, normally he had to go hungry till lunch, but he only remembered mentioning this to Kurumu once. Kurumu pulled a pink thermos out of her bag and looked around in confusion."Where are Tsuna-san and Lambo-kun?"

"Tsuna didn't feel up to it, so it's just me." he shrugged his shoulders as he accepted a cup of warm tea and a slice of toast."Ittadakimasu!"

The tea was very good with a slightly sweet taste. He knew Kurumu knew how to cook since she made him bentos quite a few times, and every time he found them delicious, but for some reason, he never thought she could also make such a fine tea.

They ate in silence, with Kurumu sitting very close to him, her body slightly leaning on his. It felt nice, unlike her other more brazen affections, he didn't feel overwhelmed and could properly appreciate it.

"Thank you, it was very good." Tsukune told her quietly as he finished the food, not willing to break up this peaceful atmosphere.

"You're welcome." Kurumu smiled at him, before raising an eyebrow in question."Ne, Tsukune-kun, why are you training so hard? I always wondered since you are already pretty strong." she asked, referring to the dying will state.

Tsukune looked over the empty clearing, thinking seriously about the question. Why was he truly training? To impress Moka? He knew her well enough that just being strong wouldn't impress her. To feel like he belonged here? With the newspaper club, he already had that.

"Guess, I want to stand on my own." he said softly, deep in thought. "Ever since I've come here, I felt as if I was in Tsuna's shadow. We are so alike, yet so different, I want to be my own person." he chuckled to himself while scratching the back of his head."Saying it out, it sounds like a really stupid reason."

"I don't think so. But I think you are already strong enough." she closed her eyes, enjoying the considerable warmer sunlight on her face. "To me, the Tsukune-kun who can stand up to the released Moka is strong enough." the human remained silent, not wanting to admit, that the him who stood up against Moka was influenced by Tsuna's dying will bullet."You and Tsuna are the same type of monsters, right? Since you use the same powers." she asked, opening her eyes to peer at him curiously. In response, Tsukune instantly stiffened and if he had been drinking anything he would have split it out.

"Ye-Yes." he stammered out, trying to remember the cover story Tsuna hammered into his head if Kurumu or anyone asked him."We essentially have the same power, but we have different ways to use it. I have a lot of raw power, but no control over it. When I use it, I essentially became a berserker with a single goal in mind." he explained, thankful that Tsuna had to foresight to think of something like this."Tsuna, on the other hand, has a weaker body so he could use much less power at once, but he had absolute control over it."

"Is that why your clothes tend to..blow up?" she asked, her cheeks quickly turning pink at the mental image. She turned her head away, not meeting his eyes. Likewise, Tsukune also couldn't look at her, his own face resembling a tomato.

"Yes. That's why I'm doing this training. According to Tsuna, we are doing this so that my body could keep up with my power while also make my body used to it." that was actually the truth. When he went after Tsuna, asking how his dying will state was so different, he told him, that he had enough practice with it, that he could control the output of the flames. When he pressed him further, he told him, that to use the dying will to its fullest he has to train his body to keep up with the power and his mind to help direct it.

"Than I think you are on the right path. You just have to walk forward." said Kurumu, trying to cheer him up. It gained her a small smile from the human boy who suddenly stood up.

"You are right. I can't let all this training go to waste. he told her, before pulling out the dying will pill and not letting himself think about it, simply gulped it down.

It was different, compared to when Tsuna used the bullet form on him. Those had been fast, and instant death that left him with a sole regret. This time it felt different. He lost all feeling in his body and for a moment he was truly afraid he would die. But he didn't want to die, not before getting stronger, showing everyone that he was not useless. That simple thought reverberated in him, until a searing fire blossomed in his heart, quickly spreading to the rest of his body.

He didn't even notice the lack of clothes on his person or the fire on his forehead. All worries, all insecurities disappeared, leaving only one single-minded thought.

"Get stronger as if I were to die." he roared out to the clearing, before rushing forward in the direction of the fridge that was left forgotten in the middle.

While he had a little difficulty moving it in his base form, bolstered by the dying will he easily picked it up and began to sprint around the clearing. After a while, he simply threw it away and began to go through various exercises Tsuna had him do before, with Kurumu cheering him on in the background.

Soon he felt the dying will fade away from his system, the blazing fire turn off, but something was wrong. Normally he would feel a little tired, a little lethargic, according to the Tsuna that was because the dying will remove external limiters of the body, so the sudden absence of power left him a little weak. But now, the effects were much worse. His vision swayed before him, and h couldn't feel any power in his body. Before long, he fell face first in the ground, unable to even move a muscle. As his consciousness faded away he was aware of the panicked shouts coming from Kurumu-chan.

-0-

Waking up never felt so hard. No matter how tired he was, never had he struggled to gain consciousness like this. Tsukune blearily opened his eyes, his vision swimming. His head hurt, feeling like Lambo exploded at least twenty grenades inside his head, to the point even thinking hurt. His limbs felt like they were filled with lead. He was shivering from the cold, even though he felt the warm comforter placed on his body and felt like he was burning at the same time.

He blinked in shock as the room he was in came into focus. He was surprised to find himself in his room instead of the infirmary or the clearing where he fainted. Looking around, he noted it was dark outside. This information further shocked him, since just before it was morning. Something serious must have happened to him to be out for most of the day.

There was no light on in the room, only the faint moonlight gave some illumination. He carefully tried to sit up but was unable to when he noticed a weight on his left side. Looking to where his arm was, he instantly became red in the face as he saw Kurumu sleeping while hugging his left arm to her assets and resting her head comfortably on his shoulder. She was snoring softly, trying to burrow herself to his side even in her sleep. Despite having no clue how they got here, Tsukune had to admit that the sleeping succubus was dangerously cute.

"Let her sleep Tsukune." a voice softly cut in, when he tried to wake the slumbering girl.

Flinching as if he was caught red-handed doing something perverted, Tsukune swiftly looked towards the door where the voice came from. There, leaning on the doorframe stood Tsuna. The moonlight only was able to light up his silhouette, but he knew it was his trainer, feeling the piercing gaze of his brown gaze on him.

"Tsuna-san?" he asked back, equally softly. It was both to confirm that he was who he thought he was and a silent question of what happened.

Instead of answering the human teen walked closer, stopping just at the edge of his futon. When he caught sight of his face, Tsukune resisted the urge to make a run for it. While normally Tsuna's face was cold and distant, there was usually some warmth and feeling beneath it. Now, it looked like it might have been carved from stone. His eyes were void of any emotion, and that scared him more than anything.

His face softened slightly as he looked at the sleeping girl.

"She looked after you all day, you know? She is totally exhausted." he said softly, crouching down and pulling the comforter up to her shoulders. There was a gentleness in the way he moved that seemed to be in contrast with his expression."She deserves a little rest."

Now that he looked at her properly Tsukune could see what he was talking about. Kurumu still wore her school uniform though it looked ruffled. Her hair was also a mess and frown on her face she didn't seem to be having a good sleep. Worse, he caught sight of dried tear tracks on her face. It made him feel like a jerk, for causing her so much worry.

"I'm sorry." he told her softly.

He turned back to Tsuna, but almost shouted in fright when he found the barrel of a pistol in front of him. He stared down coldly at the black-haired teen, a quiet snarl forming n his lips.

"Do you want to die?" he asked, fury evident in his voice.

"Tsu-Tsuna-san?" he stuttered out, genuinely afraid of the teen.

"If you want to die that badly I can make it quick." he told him while fingering the trigger of the gun."It's way better to make Kurumu, Moka, and the others go through that kind of worry needlessly." he seemed to want to say something else, but bit it back instead and stepped away. He seemed to stare into his soul for a long moment, before turning around and walking away.

"What's going on?" he asked just before the brown-haired teen left, finally finding his voice. From Tsuna's words, he understood whatever happened to him was because he screwed up something, and it caused everyone else a lot of worries.

Tsuna stopped but didn't turn back. Tsukune feared he would not answer but after a moment his soft voice reached him.

"I have a few favors to call in. Pray that I am successful and make it in time or your death won't be pretty." he told him grimly, before leaving Tsukune alone with a sleeping Kurumu.

He would stay up all night, thinking about the uncomfortable meaning behind Tsuna's words.

-0-

"You are awake, Tsukune-kun!" cheered Kurumu as she finally woke up a little after dawn and embraced strongly the still deep in thought human. Though embarrassed at first, Tsukune returned the embrace as he felt the subtle trembling of the young girl in his arms.

"Good Morning, Kurumu-chan." he forced a smile on his face for her sake.

She released him and leaned back a little, trying to get a good look at him, while she tried to wipe away the fresh wave of tears. Tsukune looked pale, tired but overall looked better than yesterday. A quick check of his forehead showed that the fever also mostly disappeared.

"Are you alright?" she asked after examining him, worry clear in her eyes."I was so afraid when you suddenly fainted."

Tsukune gave a gentle smile in response while standing up, albeit with a bit lty, showing her he was much better.

"I'm sorry for worrying you." he told her sincerely."Thank you for looking after me. I'm feeling a lot better." the last part was a little of a lie. While he felt better certainly, his body ached and he just simply didn't have any energy. But he still tried to mask it, for his friends' sake.

"I'm glad." Kurumu told him, before suddenly giving him another hug, before pulling away and hastily standing up."I almost forgot. You must be starving." with that, she hurried out of the room.

Now that she was mentioning it, he was pretty hungry and thirsty too. It was no surprise since yesterday morning he did not have anything to eat or drink. Of course, up until now, he had more than enough thoughts running in his head to forget this little tidbit.

Fortunately, Kurumu soon returned with a tray full of food that she placed down the table and motioned Tsukune to join her.

"Moka and I made some food yesterday afternoon while Tsuna stayed to watch over you." she explained as they both took their seat. He couldn't help but notice he had a much larger portion, even though he doubted that Kurumu ate much yesterday. Still, he was too hungry to voice it. "Ittadakimasu." she said, breaking her chopsticks.

"Ittadakimasu." he was quick to follow suit.

After the first bite, Tsukune was reminded just how hungry he was. He began eating quickly, forgoing usual manners in exchange for placating the bottomless hole he called his stomach. After devouring almost half his place, he remembered to slow down and chew. Looking up, he was met with the fond smile on Kurumu's face as she slowly ate and watched him. Now that he ate slowly, he could actually taste and found it was really good.

Soon only crumbs remained of the dish placed before him and Tsukune leaned back and gave a satisfied sigh.

"It was really good. Thank you." he told her, giving a thankful smile.

"You are welcome Tsukune-kun. Do you feel up to going to school?" Kurumu asked, worry evident in her voice.

"Yes. I feel better and I don't want to miss more than I already did." he told her. He didn't want to worry about his friends more than he already did, and it meant going to school, even if his body vehemently protested against going anywhere.

"If you are sure." she agreed with an uncertain voice."Do you need help getting ready?" she added with a faint blush on her cheeks. Likewise, Tsukune also blushed.

"No, I can get ready by myself. You should go and prepare yourselves." when she opened her mouth to object, he walked closer and put a hand on her shoulder, a small smile on his face. "Tsuna-san was here and he told me you looked after me all day. I'm very thankful but you have to look after yourself too. I will be alright." he assured her.

Kurumu looked at him, indecision clear on her face, before giving in.

"Alright. If you have any problems you wait for me, okay?" he gave her a nod, agreeing."I'll get ready and I'll come back, then we can go to school together. I will even drag Moka and Tsuna with us." she said resolutely. Tsukune felt touched by that since he knew she tried to use every opportunity to have them alone, without Tsuna and more specifically Moka around.

"Sure." he told her. With a smile Kurumu went back to her dorm to get ready for the day, leaving him alone for the time being.

Only after he heard his door close, did he let himself groan in pain, leaning on the nearest wall. He idly wondered if this was similar to what Tsuna must be going through daily, since probably whatever was happening to him was connected to the dying will. He resolved himself to ask Tsuna as soon as he could.

He pulled out a fresh school uniform and changed into after a quick shower, giving himself a much-needed wash. He took his time to get ready, thankful he didn't need to rush due to training and with plenty of time to get to school. After he was done he tidied his room a little, before a knock on the door alerted him that Kurumu returned.

Opening his door, he was soon swept away by a too strong for his taste hug by an excited vampire.

"Tsukune-kun. You are alright!" Moka cheered as she easily picked him up and spun him around in a delighted laugh. Tsukune couldn't enjoy the sensation of being so close to his crush, because his ribs cried out in protest of the vampire's absurd strength.

"Cut that out." Kurumu cried out behind Moka, gently hitting her on the head, releasing the still hurt human in the process."Tsukune still has some pains, you should be more careful with that brutish strength of yours." she said as she grabbed Tsukune and held him close to her, incidentally pushing his head into her chest, making him struggle to breathe.

"I'm so sorry Tsukune. Are you alright?" Moka asked, completely mortified at the thought of causing pain to her friends.

The black-haired teen waved her off as soon as he was released.

"I'm better, sorry for worrying you guys." he told her, a small smile on his face, touched by their care. He noticed someone missing and looked around, but did not spot Tsuna."Where is Tsuna-san?" he asked them.

Moka bit her lip, and looked away, confirming she knew something. At his and Kurumu's insisting looks she soon broke and told them what she knew.

"He told me there was a family emergency and was granted leave by the headmaster. He left this morning and he should be back in a few days."

Tsukune nodded in understanding, though privately he didn't believe that to be the truth. He believed there was a different reason for Tsuna to leave, something connected to those favors he mentioned last night. But he didn't voice it, not wanting to needlessly worry his friends, when they could do nothing. Still, he cursed the brown-haired human inside, hating that the other boy never told them anything. Not about himself, the dying will bullets, or anything relatively informative. He learned more about Tsuna from Lambo than from the man himself.

"This sucks." complained Kurumu as they began to walk to class."We are about to start the first full paper for our club. It will be a lot more work with one person down."

"Two, actually." Moka said, bowing her head in apology. "I have an art project I have to work on after class, so I won't be able to join you. It will only be for a week." she added when she saw their dismayed expressions.

Tsukune tried to not show how much this news saddened him. His birthday was just a few days away and he planned on spending it with his friends in peace and maybe gather the courage to confess to Moka and ask her out on a date. But with the fainting yesterday, Tsuna's ominous words, and now Moka's absence, this birthday was shaping up like nothing as he imagined.

"For the week? But without you and Tsuna it would mean me and Tsukune-kun would be practically alone. Gin would do nothing but laze and order us around. Lambo is more of a hindrance than real help, so we could only count on Yukari-chan." she seemed to realize what she said because a large smile appeared on her face. She grabbed Tsukune's arm and held it close to her."On second never mind, just go to your project, while I will have a great time with Tsukune-kun." she said, cheering to herself.

"Ku-Kurumu-chan." Tsukune stuttered out embarrassed.

"You guys seem to be a lot closer to each other." remarked Moka with a small smile, though there was a little sad quality to it.

"Of course, it was inevitable, that my destined one will realize his love for me. Take that Moka." the succubus stated boldly while tightening her grip on Tsukune.

"Cut it out, Kurumu-chan." the human pleaded as he tried to get circulation back to his arm.

They talked and joked with each other until they had to split for classes and even if it was only for a moment, Tsukune forgot about all his problems.

-0-

The school day was long and tiring. Tsukune spent most of it lying on his desk in pain and trying not to fall asleep. It came and went at irregular intervals. Sometimes he felt just fine and acted it was like a normal day, but there were several times when it took everything he had to not fall asleep on the spot.

"Later, Tsukune." said Moka as they were about to part ways. He was going to the newspaper club while she turned into the direction of the art classroom.

"Oh, right. You mentioned doing an art project." remembered Tsukune, sadness evident as he wanted to spend time with Moka alone."What kind of project are you even doing? I didn't even hear anything about it in class." they shared most of their classes, art included after all.

At the question Moka blushed in embarrassment and turned her body away from him, not meeting his eyes. She held up an art textbook that she read most of the day as some kind of shield.

"Truth is, I was asked to model for a picture by the art teacher." she admitted.

"A-A model?" Tsukune asked back, shocked. Pictures ran through his mind, first Moka in stylish clothes posing, next Moka in a revealing costume and finally only wearing a sheet of some kind, embarrassment coloring her face...He quickly turned away from her and grabbed his nose to stop it from bleeding. "Th-That's great." he said at last.

"Well, see you later Tsukune." he was very thankful that she did not notice his little slip-up.

"See you later, Moka-san." he waved her goodbye, before walking to the newspaper club a little downtrodden.

When he arrived at the clubroom he was surprised to only find Gin in here. What was more shocking that instead of goofing off, the president wore a serious face as he read over a paper n his hands. He frowned at something, before writing in the open notebook placed at his side.

"Good afternoon Gin-senpai." he greeted the older student."What are you doing?"

Gin looked up, finally noticing Tsukune. He put the paper down and turned to him with a smile.

"Hey there Tsukune. Just doing some work." he looked around, trying to find a certain pink-haired girl. "Where is Moka-chan? You usually come together and I was feeling down so I wanted to ogle her a little." he admitted without any shame. It was a quality that he sometimes envied the older male for.

"She's not coming for a few days. She was asked to help with an art project." he answered honestly as he went to place his stuff down at his usual desk.

"Dang it. And I was planning using Sawada's absence to finally woo Moka-chan with my roguish charm." bemoaned Gin putting away the bouquet of roses he wasn't sure where he pulled out from. "He's not even here and he still ruins my plans. Curse you, Sawada Tsunayoshi." he yelled comically toward the ceiling.

It always amazed him how different Gin's and Tsuna's relationship was. If you didn't know them and just heard them badmouth each other, you would think they hated each other. But if you knew Tsuna well enough you could see he was apparently relaxed, not at all alert around the werewolf and it was true vice versa. Somehow they became friends while they insulted each other. It was weird but that was true for most things at this academy.

"Wait, how do you know Tsuna-san isn't here?" he asked, feeling a little confused. From what he gathered the other human's departure was kind of last minute.

"Haiji." said Gin, wincing as he rubbed his shoulder in pain. The name was somewhat familiar to Tsukune, he might have heard the name from Tsuna. "He whined all morning about his favorite sparring partner going away for a few days. Then he tried to spar with anyone he could get his hands on." he gave another wince as he stretched his back, an audible pop reaching the freshman."Guess who got to be the lucky one?"

Tsukune couldn't say anything to that so he remained silent. Thankfully after a few minutes, Kurumu entered the room, completely ignoring Gin and making a beeline to Tsukune and embracing him.

"Tsukune-kun, I missed you so much. How are you feeling? Want me to play nurse after the club." she said seductively sending the young teen spluttering n embarrassment.

Part of him admired both Gin and Kurumu for their ability to so easily confess their affections, while he struggled to even gather the courage to do that. Another, traitorous part of his mind conjured the image of the succubus in a nurse outfit and he had to grab his nose, another nosebleed imminent.

"Could you not do this in front of us?" asked Yukari as she also walked in with a pout, a sulking Lambo walking after her and quickly deposited himself at a faraway corner.

Yukari and Lambo did not get along really well, despite their similar ages. They both fought for the position of Tsuna's sibling with a vehemence that usually ended up in a lot of property damage. Tsuna also used to set them on him, in the name of training, so it was understandable that he had a healthy fear towards both kids.

"Here." said Yukari with a small smile as she placed a small jar full of some kind of white cream in front of Tsukune. At his confused look she explained."This is a cream for sore muscles. Tsuna-nii said yesterday you probably would be sore all over and asked me to make this healing salve for you."

"Thank you, Yukari-chan." he accepted gracefully. Even if he still feared to go near brooms thanks to her, he had to admit she was a very well-behaved good girl nowadays. For the most part.

"Who's the little kid?" asked Gin, while he was lazily leaning back on his chair and was watching them with half-lidded eyes.

"She is Yukari-chan, our newest member. Geez, you were even here when we welcomed her." complained Kurumu, while in the background Yukari pouted angrily at Gin. The older student blinked in surprise before shrugging his shoulders.

"Really. Well, I don't really pay attention to little girls." he said, before groaning in pain as a chair directly landed on his head, almost causing him to fall over. Yukari cheered happily, waving around her repaired wand, and even Lambo joined for once to laugh at Gin.

The club president calmly smoothed down his hair and took back his seat, indicating with his hand that they should sit down as well. His face changed quickly, losing his goofy expression and returning it to a serious one. Sometimes he wondered that just like with Tsuna which was the real face. The serious one or the sarcastic, goofy one? He let the thought go, concentrating on Gin.

"Everyone, listen up and listen well. We have our first official job as the newspaper club." he said with an authoritative voice as he stood up and walked in front of the board, chalk in hand. "The missing girls' problem." the others reacted in shock, none of them heard anything about missing girls."Seven female students disappeared without any trace, one after another in just one month. It's not entirely unusual for people to go missing, either running away or finding something dangerous deep within the forest, but not in these numbers. Something's going on and we are the right people to uncover the truth." he told them, before giving each of them a couple of sheets of paper.

As Tsukune examined the papers showing basic information about the missing girls, where they were seen last, and the like, he thought about how insane this could be that people missing could be considered normal. He once again thanked his lucky stars that he befriended Tsuna and Moka at the start of the semester. Tsuna was a human just like him, but he always seemed to be in control and had a trick up his sleeve, while Moka was a very strong monster. Thanks to them he was probably a lot safer than he would be otherwise, but it also strengthened his determination to get strong on his own, so he would not have to rely always on them.

As they all got a good look at the missing girls, Gin walked to the window, a hand on his chin.

"As you can see, each of these girls is seriously hot. If someone is holding them, hostage, I want to save them." for one fleeting moment, the president looked cool, with a serious look in his eye but just as easily his next words destroyed that sense of coolness. "If they see me in a good light, especially without Sawada around to steal to spotlight, I will sure to get lucky." he said with a perverted smile.

The expected reaction came as both Yukari and Kurumu grabbed the nearest thing to next and throw it at Gin who endured it with a laugh. In Yukari's case, she sent her entire desk at the pervert, while Kurumu simply grabbed the grenade Lambo was playing with next to her. The ensuing explosion blanketed the whole room with smoke and prematurely ended their club activities. Tsukune could only hold his head and sigh depressingly. Sometimes he could not believe the kind of friends he had.

-0-

The next day Tsukune felt a lot better. He still felt tired and just without the energy to do about just anything, but he didn't feel like he was about to kneel over, so that was a plus. He woke in his usual time and simply went to do a few light exercises by himself. Kurumu soon decided to join him, not wanting to let him out of her sight. He felt touched by her care, if not a little nervous about what she might do to him in the name of looking after him.

"Alright class, settle down." the art teacher Ishigami-sensei called out to the class, prompting the students to go and find their seats.

She was a woman in her early thirties with a tomboyish figure. She had brown hair that she wore in braids and a blank bandana put over it. She wore a tube top, slim jeans, pumps, and a long trench coat with paint stains over it. She was really enthusiastic about art and a lot of students liked her for her free-spirited personality. Among the girls, she was a role model, someone they wanted to be like.

Personally, Tsukune liked her and her class, because she was the most normal of their teachers, as in she was the easiest to not seen as a monster, because of strange behavior or her monster form bleeding over her human form. He also liked art because it was something of a refuge to him in this monster school. He was not very good, more like average, but in art class, he was able to just draw and pretend for a moment that he was in a completely normal high school.

"Alright, everyone got a seat?" the teacher asked and received a collective yes to her students, much to her delight."Then, at today's art class we will paint a picture using this month's theme of 'what's important to you?'. You are free to paint whatever you want, however, you want. Think about what's important to you in art, in your everyday lives, and most importantly, in the depth of your hearts." she looked very enthusiastic, further motivating her students."Don't worry if you can't finish today, we will work on it next week as well. I look forward to all of your paintings."

Tsukune stared at the empty canvas before him, muting the rest of the class around him. What was important to him? At first thought, he moved his eyes towards Moka, who was concentrating deeply on her painting. She was important to him, yes, but he tried to think of other things too that would be important to him. His friends, that was a given, his family. Then, as if summoned from deep inside his mind, a large fire appeared in his mind's eye. The dying will fire.

It was not really the spooky magic fire that was important to him, but what it represented. It was the resolution behind it, the hope that he can stand with his friends as an equal. It was the representation of what he accomplished since he came here to this academy, befriended a human who could be stranger than any monster at times, a bloodsucking vampire, a succubus hell-bent on seducing him, a perverted werewolf-senpai and a preadolescent witch with a penchant for pranks. Here he was given a chance to be someone more than ordinary, and maybe it only truly began when Tsuna fired that first dying will bullet.

"That's some nice work, Tsukune-kun. Keep it up, I look forward to seeing the full work." Ishigami-sensei praise snapped him out of whatever trance he fell into. Looking at his work, he was surprised at what he saw, since he was not aware that he even started painting.

The half-completed painting showed a large fire, it's a shade between the bright orange of his dying will and the darker orange Tsuna's fire was. Inside the fire, there was a dark, human-shaped shadow, that looked a lot like him. Around the fire were three more shadows, most of them half-finished. Two were clearly female, one of them with the easily recognizable wings and tail of Kurumu. The last one was a werewolf.

Tsukune dumbly looked at it, mesmerized by his work. He did not know he could create something like this. What he found curious the few unfinished lines around the shadows as if they were surrounded by fire.

He was snapped out of his inspection when the window closest to him opened up and a pretty girl popped her head in. She had very pale skin, but otherwise looked perfectly healthy, and had long light brown hair, with two braids framing her face.

"Hey sensei, I skipped gym class to have fun with you." she explained cheerily as she tried to pull the rest of her body in.

"You know that I should scold you for that right?" asked the art teacher with a rueful smile even as she went to help her. "Come on, take a seat." she said with a laugh as she led her to an open seat.

'Sensei sure is popular.' Tsukune thought, a little amused as Ishigami walked to Moka who asked her a few questions.'Maybe it's because she's so confident?'

After that, he tried to once again focus on his painting, but whatever inspiration he got, he seemed to run out of it. In the end, he didn't even add one line to the painting, not wanting to make a mistake. At the end of the class, he simply placed it at the side of the room, with the other paintings, and simply left, following Moka. It was the start of lunch break and they were on their way to secure their usual table.

"Moka-san." he suddenly stopped, looking resolutely at the pink-haired girl. He gathered up all of his courage, the decision made. He was gonna ask her to spend his birthday, the day after tomorrow with him he's gonna ask her out. Thankfully the corridor they stopped was void of people, it was finally his chance. "I have a very important question to ask of you." he said, trying to sound confident, but failed miserably.

"What it is Tsukune-kun?" she turned toward him, a bright smile on her face. She was this happy ever since their art class, where she talked with Ishigami-sensei about something.

Tsukune opened his mouth, but before any words could come out of his mouth, a body collided with his back, almost sending him face-first into the floor. Arms snaked around his neck, something really soft was pushed into his back and without conscious thought, he put his arms on his assaulter's legs holding them up.

"Tsukune-kun! I missed you! How was your day?" chirped Kurumu cheerfully from his back, only a moment later noticing Moka standing next to them. She frowned for a second before she smiled at the girl."Hi, Moka."

"Hello, Kurumu-chan." answered back happily the vampire.

For some reason, even though she could fly easily, Kurumu really took piggybacking Tsukune into a routine. Many times while they walked to school she asked him to carry her, though originally she wanted bridal carry, Tsukune was a blushing mess after that, and sometimes simply jumped at him, expecting him to catch her when he was not aware enough. It became a part of their routine so much, that he no longer complained, simply steadied her whenever she did this.

"Do you have to always do this?" he complained, though lacking any real feeling.

"Don't tell me you are not enjoying this." to emphasize her point the succubus tightened her hold on him, pushing their bodies even closer. His face red as a tomato, he wisely didn't answer.

Suddenly, Moka began to giggle to herself much to their confusion.

"You guys look much closer than before." she said to their questioning looks before she turned to Tsukune."What is it you wanted to ask?"

"Oh," just like that all the courage he gathered up slipped away like a balloon deflating. With Kurumu around and simply the perfect chance missed, he doubted he could even make one syllable. "Never mind. Let's go to lunch." he said in the end, indicating the direction of the dining hall.

"Onwards Tsukune-kun!" Kurumu pointed forward, expecting him to carry her as if he was her horse. Before he could complain that she lowered her mouth next to his ear and whispered to him."If you are lucky, I might feed you."

He would forever deny that his steps sped up and would be eternally grateful Tsuna was not here to tease him.

After lunch, he tried several times to get Moka alone to ask her out but was foiled every time. Some could be written off as just unlucky coincidence, but there were others he was pretty sure were simply sabotaged. He tried to talk to her after lunch, on his way to class, but unfortunately, he was called out by Nekonome-sensei to help her out. Afterward, Moka was snatched up by Yukari who wanted to spend time with her big sister. One time he was able to talk to Moka outside school, but before he could properly formulate the question for some reason one of Lambo's grenades fell just before him and exploded. Later he heard Lambo laugh from somewhere and he thought he heard Yukari too. His last chance was just after classes before they parted ways for the day, but Gin showed out of nowhere, flirted with Moka unsuccessfully, and after rejected, dragged him to the club by his collar.

Then the afternoon spent trying to find anything about the missing girls, but they found little else. At first glance, all the girls had nothing connecting them with the exception that each of them was pretty. They were in different classes, had different hobbies, nothing that could give a lead to them. Still, Gin was convinced there was some kind of clue somewhere.

In the end, he fell into his bed, completely exhausted and entirely unsuccessful in asking out Moka. He was asleep the moment his head touched his pillow.

-0-

Tsukune considered curling into a ball and pretending the sun didn't come up the moment he woke up. His head pounded like never before and his entire body just hurt. Like he spent the night overworking every single muscle he had. He was also so tired as if he didn't get even a wink of sleep.

A quick check of the clock confirmed he only woke up an hour later than he was used to. No training then. With a groan, he rolled out of the bed and tried to get ready for the day. It wasn't easy, he felt like death warmed over him and probably looked like that too. He felt more like an old man, instead of a soon to be seventeen years old.

"Way to start the day." he murmured to himself, a little unhappy as he went to freshen himself up.

He had the feeling something didn't look exactly right, but it wasn't until he went to put on his school uniform that he noticed what was wrong. As he was about to grab his shirt, he noticed something black on his left forearm. He looked closer and was shocked to find some kind of tattoo. It was a small black and white skull with a speech bubble coming out of it. What was more shocking was the writing in the bubble. It read 'I never got more than 80 on a test before.'.

He was quite embarrassed reading this because it was unfortunately true. Though to be fair, he also never had a score lower than 50, but it was not a fact that many knew. He had no idea who could have done this, well he had but to his knowledge, Tsuna has yet to come back to school, and also he would have done much worse than writing on his arm.

More annoyed by it than anything, he went to try and wash it down. But no matter how hard he scrubbed his arm, even if the skin around it became red, the tattoo didn't seem to vanish. Worse he found another one on his right arm, just under his wrist. when he was sure there was nothing there a few minutes ago. It said 'I thought about skipping school before, but this school is so scary I'm even scared to do that.', much to his own embarrassment. He had no idea how could anybody learn this about him or how the tattoo appeared on his skin.

He was beginning to seriously worry about whatever was going on and he had honestly no idea what to do. In the end, after 10 more minutes of washing both tattoos remained unaffected, he simply gave up, because it was time to go to school. He dressed in his uniform, taking care not to show any tattoos, and went to meet up with Kurumu and Moka.

All through the day, he remained tired and less prone to speaking up. Though he still tried to ask Moka out, but just like yesterday, all his efforts resulting with nothing to show up for.

Worse, when he excused himself before lunch and went into the bathroom to check on those creepy tattoos, he was shocked to find that instead of two, he had now five of them. One appeared on his chest, just below where his heart was, one on his right shoulder, and the last one on his left ankle.

Much to his horror, they were all accompanied by various embarrassing statements. One mentioned how until he was 14 years old, he believed his cousin who was two years older than him to be a boy. Another said that the Tokyo Ordinary People Association denied his membership, saying he was too ordinary to be included, while the last one proclaimed that he hid his doujinshi collection under his bed and had to relocate it twice since his mother found it both times.

He was seriously panicking about the whole thing but wasn't sure who he could turn to. Maybe it was a monster illness, but he was human and he was sure if he, for example, went to the nurse to check this out, his secret would be given away immediately. Maybe it was something to do with the dying will bullet Tsuna was shooting him, but in that case, his only source of information was not on school grounds. Lambo was unreliable at best and how could he go to Moka with this, when these skulls gave away his embarrassing secrets?

In the end, his only hope was that Tsuna came back soon before this thing could become worse. Luckily, according to Moka, Tsuna would be back any day now, because he said he would be only away for a few days and it had already been two days since then.

-0-

By the classes ended, Tsukune felt he was at the end of his rope. The tattoos worried him, but he could not do anything about them, and luckily no one saw them, but he was still unable to ask Moka out. Steeling his resolve, instead of going to the newspaper club, he went straight to the art building, intent on talking with the vampire, whatever happens.

He gulped a little in fright as lightning flashed across the sky, giving the building before him an ominous background. Like the rest of the school, the art building was also looked more like a haunted house, than a proper building and he wondered for a moment that if the monsters thought that buildings looked like this in the human world, or simply it was their own twist of style.

He was nervous as he walked through the too silent to be comfortable corridors until he reached the classroom. He knocked once to announce his presence before opening the sliding door and stepped in.

"Excuse me, can I talk to Akashiya Moka-san?" he asked, a little loud, but received no answer. Looking around, he found the whole classroom empty."Did I come too early?" he asked himself as he sat down at the nearest chair, figuring he would rather wait for Moka to arrive than to give up.

He fidgeted in his seat uneasily, he could almost feel the skull tattoos on his body call out for attention. He had the almost unbearable urge to rub them, but he was not sure if they really itched or it was his mind playing tricks with him. Nevertheless, he began playing with the cuffs of his uniform to occupy him, until much to his horror he noticed a new skull at the back of his left hand. He brought it closer to his eyes, morbid curiosity about what was written next to the skull.

"I am envious of Tsuna because Moka always sucks his blood." he read out loud, before he instantly got red in the face, quickly putting his hand into his pocket to hide the tattoo. He looked around, wanting to confirm that nobody heard him. Thankfully no one was in sight.

He suddenly looked up as he heard sobbing. He looked around, confused, the sound seemed to come from somewhere in the classroom. He stood up and began to walk toward the other end of the room, toward a larger cupboard where the sounds seemed to come from.

"Hello? Is anybody there? Are you alright?" he asked as he cautiously approached, the sound of sobbing increasing. He was further alarmed when he spotted some kind of fabric peeking out from under the cupboard, a fabric that looked alarmingly familiar to the school uniform.

Worried about someone being hurt or worse, Tsukune almost tore out the door, only to gasp in shock. Before him stood a statue of a young girl with a very familiar hairstyle. It was a nude state, with its arms trying to protect its modesty. But what was most shocking was the tears that fall from the statue's eyes and the sobbing sounds coming from it.

"What in the-?" he immediately backed away from the statue, dread forming in the pit of his stomach. "What kind of statue is that? Who puts something like that into a cupboard?" he asked himself. More than that, the statue was increasingly familiar, as if she saw the girl it was obviously

modeled after.

"What are you doing to my art?" an angry, hissing voice came from behind him, causing Tsukune to flinch in instinct.

Turning around he was met with the furious visage of the art teacher, Ishigami. She glared down at him with a dark look, her hair seemed to move as if alive and for once, the usually kind and smiling art teacher reminded him that she was indeed a monster.

"Ishigami-sensei." he tried to stay calm, even as he felt sweat forming on his forehead. "I'm sorry I barged in here, I just..." words seemed to fail him as he tried to back away from both her and the creepy statue.

The art teacher blinked at once as if suddenly recognizing him. Her countenance smoothed out in an instant, gaining a peaceful look, even if a moment ago she looked ready to murder him.

"Oh, aren't you Tsukune-kun from class three?" she wondered with a smile, followed by a carefree laugh, that instead of calming him, creeped him out further."So you came to pick up Moka-san, Tsukune-kun? Sorry, she's a bit busy being a beautiful model to spend time with you right now."

"What do you mean by that?" he asked back, confused.

Before the teacher could answer, the door to the classroom opened and Moka stepped through.

"Sorry for being late sensei." she started to say, though stopped and looked at Tsukune in surprise."Tsukune, what are you doing here?" she asked, sounding a little suspicious.

"Wel, you see..." of course thanks to the bipolar art teacher and the creepy statue, Tsukune's carefully gathered words disappeared in the wind, leaving him to stammer dumbly."I just wanted to ask you a question..."

Before he could say anymore, he was cut off by Moka who began to push him out of the room, blushing furiously. All the while Ishigami looked on their little drama with amusement.

"No' I'll be embarrassed, so you can't be here! Leave!" she said, confusing the human teen.

"Embarrassed? Could it be you are a nude model?" of course, his mouth had to move faster than his brain could, and before he could stop it, this less than innocent question came out.

"What I do is none of your business." she shouted, too embarrassed to try and think through what she was saying."Anyway just leave."

The words hit him like bricks. It was not something he didn't know. He knew despite everything that happened, she was much closer to Tsuna than him. Still, to hear that he mattered to her so little, tore him apart. He just wanted to spend his birthday with her, with his friends. Was that too much to ask?

"I get it now, you don't have to shout," he told her quietly. Moka stopped, surprised at his tone. It was a tried, defeated tone. "So after all this time, you didn't care at all about me. It was always Tsuna, Tsuna, and Tsuna." he said, anger leaking into his voice. One part of him knew he shouldn't blame Tsuna, who trained and helped him so much, but he was a teenager, he was supposed to be illogical.

He didn't wait to hear her reaction to any of this, he turned around and ran away. He kept his eyes closed, trying to keep the tears at bay. When he was little he used to cry at every little thing. When nobody played with him when they teased him or even when he saw a dead insect. His cousin made him grow out of that phase and he did not want to break that by crying now.

Before he could properly process just what happened, he stopped just before the newspaper club's door. He was out of breath, more than he should have been if he thought about it for a minute and had to brace himself on the wall. His entire body felt heavy, and he felt like he could just faint any moment. He was sure something was wrong with his body, but he had no one he could turn to anymore.

"Guess the only way to go is forward." he muttered to himself as he tried to calm his pounding heart and went to enter the clubroom.

„Here he is." called out Kurumu surprised as he stepped in. Gin was sitting at his usual place, looking bored while she was next to Yukari both of them around a strange orb that was on Yukari's desk. Lambo was sleeping on his usual desk."Hi, Tsukune-kun." she waved to him with a mile.

"You are late." muttered Gin, before throwing a paper in his way. "Yesterday an eighth girl went missing, so it's even more important we find them." he informed the downtrodden teen.

„Oh, right." he replied half-heartedly, after today's events he didn't really feel like looking into mysteries. That outlook changed drastically as he looked at her picture."This girl!" he cried out suddenly, the others looking at him in surprise. He was pretty sure that was the girl that snuck into the art class yesterday. And the statue he saw today. But that would mean...

"What's with you all of a sudden?" asked Gin in a bored manner, though he also tensed, as if bracing for not so good news.

"I've seen that girl yesterday in art class." he told the others, instantly gaining their attention. "And today I found a crying statue that looked exactly like her in the art building. But that would mean..." his eyes widened as realization kicked in. "Moka-san!" without waiting for the others he began to sprint back to the art building, his friends' cries going unanswered.

His head pounded way worse than before and it almost hurt to breathe, but he didn't let it stop him. Despite whatever happened between them a few minutes ago, Moka was still a dear friend of his. He would sooner die to let one of the friends come to harm. He may be weak, he may not be able to do a thing, but he still wanted to stand next to his friends, to make so many memories together.

Tsukune didn't notice but while he was running he was accomplishing something very rare and very hard to achieve. Without the aid of a dying will bullet, he was slowly slipping into the dying will state. He also didn't notice the burst of speed as finally the dying will fire appeared on his forehead and he sped forward, shedding most of his clothes.

A few students who were on his way jumped away in surprise, shouts of jerk, hentai, and idiot were thrown after him, but Tsukune who fully entered the dying will state easily ignored them.

"Save Moka as if I were to die!" he roared as the art building finally came into view.

Instead of entering the building like a normal person, he chose to take a running leap and burst through the windows. Unfortunately, he missed his target and ended in an empty room. Growling to himself he went through the door and began searching for the vampire room by room until he heard a muffled scream and he took off in that direction.

Not bothering with opening the door, he simply lowered his head and broke through it, like a bull. He found himself in a large room, filled with states of crying girls in different positions. Ishigami-sense was also there, without her bandana, her braids looking and acting like snakes. She had a sinister expression on her face as he looked at him annoyed. Moka was also there, bound by the teacher's snakes and if he had the proper capacity of thought, he would have noticed her left hand slowly turning to grey stone.

He was not aware of it, but Tsukune made a very peculiar sight. He was clad in lime-green boxers, his body full of strange skull tattoos and speech bubbles. His eyes were wide and completely white as usual in the dying will state and the fire on his head was much smaller than usual. Add to that he was snarling in a way not dissimilar to that of a rabid dog, it was no wonder Ishigami eyed him warily.

"Tsukune-kun! Get out of here, run! You will get turned into stone!" pleaded Moka as she tried to get out of her bindings, but they were too tight and she found moving her body harder and harder every passing moment.

Unfortunately, there was no reasoning with Tsukune stuck in his dying will. With a mighty roar, he ran forward and grabbed some of the snakes binding the pink-haired girl, tearing through them with ease with his enhanced strength, but Ishigami still held a hold on her legs, while her entire left arm turned into stone.

"Aaargh!" the teacher cried out in pain at the loss of some of her snakes, glaring at the two of them furiously."You won't stand in my way. I won't let you ruin my art." she said, sending a new wave of snakes at them.

Tsukune, showing the barest minimum of survival instinct, jumped back from Moka to avoid them, but soon one of them entwined itself on his arm, biting him in the process. He cried out in pain, the shock of it strong enough to snuff out his dying will. And unlike Moka who had plenty of power in her that slowed the process, with him, it was much faster. In a few moments, his whole body was too heavy to move properly.

"Mo-Moka-san." he said, reaching out towards her, trying to get to her rosary, hoping that for once he would be able to release her other self, instead of Tsuna. "No matter how insignificant I am to you, you are my friend. I won't leave you." he struggled, using all the power he left, but it was simply not enough. Before long, his hand fell to the floor, unable to move.

"How is it? Your limbs turning into stone, becoming a prisoner of your body for an eternity!" Ishigami gloated as neither teens were able to do anything. Suddenly an explosion came from the direction of the door, smoke pouring into the room. "What is this? Aaargh!" she cried out in pain at the same time Tsukune and Moka felt the snakes around them being cut.

"Tsukune-kun! Moka!" Kurumu kneeled next to her destined one, checking on him, careful with her elongated nails.

"Moka-nee! Tsukune-san. Are you alright?" called out Yukari as she also ran to their side, looking worried.

"You guys!" Moka said as Yukari helped her stand up. Now her legs also began to turn into stone, making it difficult to stand. "Please get out of here, it's too dangerous." she warned them, more worried about her friends than herself. Tsukune grunted out something unintelligible, no longer capable of any movement save for his eyes, but it sounded a lot like agreement.

"How dare you?" roared Ishigami as the smoke began to clear out and she spotted the two other members of the newspaper club.

She made a move to send her snakes at them, but suddenly electricity flared up, causing her to back away with caution. As the smoke fully cleared, they saw Lambo standing protectively before them. ELectricity was cackling all around his form, concentrating around the small horns on his head.

"Is that Lambo's monster form?" asked Kurumu, strangely feeling a little intimidated by the most of the time lazy young boy.

Both Moka and Tsukune knew that to be not true. Though neither Lambo nor Tsuna explicitly stated, Lambo was just as much human as Tsuna, or to that, he was only seven years old, it was natural for them to worry.

"Lambo-kun! Please run away, she is very dangerous." cried out Moka, trying to step toward him. Tsukune likewise tried to get up but failed, most of his body turning to stone.

"I'll be alright, I'm not useless." Lambo's quiet words reached them over the crackle of electricity. The horned boy turned his head towards them, wearing a serious expression. His eyes, normally so open, so cheerful, were hard and determined, reminding them of Tsuna's eyes at that moment.

He turned back towards Ishigami who eyed him warily, her snakes wriggling around her. His whole demeanor was different. There was no slouch in his state, he looked taller, unmovable. He lowered his head, looking remarkably like a bull about to charge.

"Ever since back then, all I wanted to stand with Tsuna-nii and the others as their equal." he told them quietly, though no one had any idea what he was referring to. "I like sweets a lot and don't like doing as I'm told, but when things serious, I'll protect my comrades with my life. I'll be the lightning rod, taking the damage for others." he declared to them.

With that he charged forward, even as the others cried after him, telling him to stop. Ishigami stayed confidently where she was, smirking down at the young boy.

"Don't think that little light show will save you little boy." she taunted before she sent forward her snakes, no longer cautious.

Lambo in response gritted his teeth, seeing the snakes coming right at him. Surprising every onlooker, he deftly avoided all of them, still running forward the art teacher's way, while picking up more and more speed.

"Don't look down on me." he shouted as he closed on her."I'm Lambo of the Bovino family, a trained hitman but more importantly, I am Tsuna-nii's lightning guardian."

Seeing the danger, Ishigami made to dodge but was shocked when one of her statues that had fallen on its side in the commotion, somehow moved its hand and grabbed onto her ankle.

"How can this be?" she shouted, trying to free her leg from the stone hands. But it was far too late, Lambo reached her.

"Electrico cornata!" roared Lambo as he thrust forward, easily hitting his unmoving target. Ishigami cried out in pain as more than a thousand volts of electricity flew into her.

Tsukune, who was slowly losing consciousness, finally became unconscious just after seeing the art teacher fall.

-0-

"Ah!" with a shout Tsukune sat up, breathing frantically. His body still felt as if it were made of stone and he felt so weak, he doubted he could even stand right now. He remembered finding Moka with Ishigami, trying to free her only to end up captured, but after that, it became a blur to him.

He had to blink a few times to calm his raging heart and realize he was no longer in the art building. The white wall and the other beds around him told him he was the infirmary of the school, where he ended up quite a few times before, mostly because of Tsuna.

"What happened?" he wondered to himself, as he spotted an empty chair pulled to his side and a covered object next to it.

Before he could decide to do anything, the door opened, Moka-san stepping through. She was in her school uniform, and she seemed in perfect health, no trace left of Ishigami's stone spell. When she noticed him awake, she gave a blinding smile before running to his side and embracing him.

"Tsukune-kun! I'm so relieved you finally recovered." she cheered as she released him, sitting down on her chair.

"Moka-san? What happened, didn't I turn into stone?" he asked, feeling a little out of the loop.

"When Ishigami-sensei was defeated, her spell broke and everyone returned to normal after that." she explained to him."You were in the worst conditions out of everyone and you didn't wake up for a few hours. It's almost midnight." she said.

It took a moment for Tsukune to realize it meant it was almost his birthday. Despite all that happened during the day with Ishigami, all he could think of that he was unable to ask Moka to spend his birthday with him in the end. Feeling saddened by this simple fact, he looked down at his lap and instantly paled in mortification.

He noticed little later than he should, but he was still clad in his boxers, and with the covers at his waist, his chest and arms were bare before Moka. What was worse, the few skull tattoos that covered him seemed to have multiplied to the point that he was practically covered by skulls and various embarrassing speech bubbles below his neck. His head quickly snapped to Moka who was looking at the tattoos uneasily, before grabbing the covers and trying to hide his body, minus his head under them.

"Those tattoos..." Moka started to say, worry evident on his face.

His complexion from pale quickly changed to tomato red as he tried to unsuccessfully explain himself.

"I can explain this, Moka-san! I mean I can't they just appeared out of nowhere and I don't know how to get rid of them." he continued to stutter out excuses, not wanting Moka to think of him as some kind of thug. In his mind, he saw Moka repulsed and running away calling him an outlaw before he was arrested and thrown into jail.

"It's okay." Moka's soft voice cut through his overactive imagination. She had a soft smile on her face as she tried to reassure him."Lambo-kun told me this is an illness related to the dying will. Apparently, Tsuna-kun left the school to find the cure for it because he suspected you caught it."

"I see." is all he said as he looked down at his lap in thought. He was touched that Tsuna went to look for a cure, but once again he was angry at the other teen for keeping him in the dark all the time. He couldn't have told him about it beforehand so he could not panic? Tsuna was a man of contradictions most of the time.

"I almost forgot." Moka once again regained his attention as she picked up the covered object next to her. Pulling of a cover he met with a painting that Moka placed in his hands. "Here it is. Happy Birthday, Tsukune-kun." she said with a bright smile.

He looked curiously at the painting before him. It showed him in his school uniform standing before a window, with Moka and Tsuna standing at his sides, all of them smiling. It might not have been the most beautiful or realistic painting in the world, but the sentiment behind it meant a lot to Tsukune.

He felt tears, happy tears gathering in his eyes and he moved his hand quickly to wipe them away.

"I worked hard to draw the three of us for the 'What's important to you' theme." she explained sheepishly, a little embarrassed by the picture's quality."It's not the best, but I hope you like it."

He simply nodded in answer, too choked up by the emotions that surged forward within him.

"Sorry for hiding it. I know I worried you, but I wanted to learn to paint properly from Ishigami-sensei. In exchange, I became her model, and I was really embarrassed by it." she told him, looking away."I wanted to give this to you, so I can show you how much it meant that I met you."

Tsukune realized that this was his chance. He wanted to confess to Moka on his birthday when the two of them were alone and he doubted he would ever get a better chance. Do or die, as they say.

He took a long breath, steeling himself. Dying will or not he will confess to Moka right here, right now. He looked at her square in the eyes, trying to convey his feelings not just with his words but his eyes too.

"Moka-san, I also...you are..." he had a hard time forming the first words, but as soon as he began, words poured out of him without stopping."You also mean a lot to me. For me, someone who just came to this academy, I felt lost and uncertain, but it immediately changed as soon as I met you. You become my friend without any reservation and accepted me for who I am. To be honest, one of the reasons I stayed in this school was so that I could continue being with you. You are beautiful and kind, you accept people for who they are not what they are and I am really lucky that I met you. The truth is, I really like you Moka-san." declared Tsukune, his face dusted with red as he unconsciously leaned in Moka's direction.

Moka looked a little taken aback by his words. before giving a blinding smile. She looked so radiant, he found it a little hard to look directly at her.

"I'm glad you feel that way." she said in a soft voice, causing him to snap his head to hers, feeling hope rise in his chest."For me, my friends the dearest treasures that I have. I've felt alone so long, that the thought of being surrounded by friends was nothing but a wishful dream on my part. But then, I met you. I like all my friends, Kurumu-chan, Yukari-chan, Lambo-kun, and Gin-senpai. But more than that, those who mean the most to me are you and Tsuna-kun, who were the first to accept me, me the scary vampire as their friend. With you, I was able to experience that wonderful warm feeling, which meant that I was alone no longer. Even Ura-chan likes you two even if she doesn't admit it." she said with a slight smile, while her rosary seemed to emit indignation."That's why I'll always treasure your friendship."

Just as quickly he felt his hopes lift, they just as soon plummetted towards the abyss. Tsukune looked down as the weight of those words hit home. To her, he was just a friend and it was very clear that was all he would remain. Still, even if he felt disheartened by the unknowing rejection, he knew he should be grateful at least for her friendship because she valued it so much.

He was broken out of his thoughts when the doors quietly slid open and they heard a voice neither heard in a few days.

"Man, you look like you're on your deathbed. Cheer up, it's your birthday." Tsuna said while snickering to himself as he stopped in front of Tsukune's bed.

"Tsuna-san?/Tsuna-kun!" the two cried out in surprise, looking at the brown-haired teen curiously.

Instead of the school uniform, Tsuna wore a black, fancy suit, complete with an orange tie. The suit looked very expensive at first glance, Tsukune doubted that his family earned enough in a whole year to afford something like that. 'Was Tsuna from some rich family?' he thought, feeling even more insignificant next to the other human for a moment.

Despite the suit, Tsuna was still pale, with worryingly darker rings around his eyes and a tired slouch of his shoulders. But he was a good enough actor that only those who could know him well enough noticed this, others easily fooled by his antics.

"Heard you got into some trouble without me here." he commented as he looked over Tsukune who was still hiding behind covers."How do you always end up in these messes? he asked, sounding genuinely curious.

"Well, you see..." Tsukune tried to give excuses, so he was distracted enough that he couldn't react before Tsuna grabbed his covers and pulled it away from him. Just as quickly his other hand lashed out and Tsukune felt something sharp in his left shoulder."What are you doing?" he asked, grabbing onto his shoulder after Tsuna pulled back.

When he looked up he met the other teen's relieved face while he held an empty syringe in his hand.

"Looks like I made it just in time. Congratulations Tsukune, you are not dying." he covered up his expression with his dry tone.

He was about to ask back what he was talking about when Moka unexpectedly spoke up.

"Tsukune-kun, look." she said in wonder as she pointed at his body.

Looking down, he met with the various skull tattoos on his body fading one at a time. He also noticed that he immediately felt better since he woke up, honestly felt like a living man for the first time in the last few days.

"That's the skulls disease or the shame to death disease." explained Tsuna."It's an illness that targets people like you and me and it's fatal, there is no cure." he smirked at their alarmed expressions."That's why I had to call in a few favors to have something that can negate the disease, so you're welcome."

Suddenly feeling cold, Tsukune clutched his covers close to his chest as the realization hit home. He was dying? He would have died without knowing the reason, without able to say goodbye?

"W-What?" he asked, his voice breaking up.

Tsuna blinked in surprise as if his reaction was difficult to understand.

"Didn't I leave you a note that explained it?" he asked, the perfect picture of innocence."I was sure I left one for you."

Before anyone could react, Moka lashed out with her hand, grabbing Tsuna's cheek and pulled hard on it, causing him to give a small cry and lean towards her while his face was stretched comically.

"Moka-chan! It huuuwts!" he said as small tears gathered in his eyes. Moka continued to pout angrily at him.

Looking at them, it struck Tsukune how funny this whole picture was. Here he was, a normal human boy in a school of monsters after almost completely petrified by his art teacher, confessing to his crush a sweet vampire who had a much scarier personality sealed away and being rejected, only for the other human on campus, his sadistic ruthless trainer to tell him that he almost died because of the secret human superpower he was trying to master. All those pent-up feelings, all those revelations became too much to him, and in the end, he simply found the whole situation hilarious so he suddenly burst out laughing, surprising the other two.

They looked at him for a long moment, before they also burst out laughing, the simple relief that everything will be all right shared between the three. They were still laughing when the door once again opened admitting Yukari, Lambo, Gin, and Kurumu who quickly joined them around Tsukune.

"Tsukune-san, I'm so glad you are alright." said Yukari as she handed him a small voodoo doll. "Nee-san said that today is your birthday. This is my present, a warawara-kun doll." she told him cheerily. Tsukune figured he would ignore that Yukari not that long ago tried (and succeeded) to control him through one of these.

"Here's some candy, get better." mumbled Lambo as he gave him a bag of candy that had only a few candies left in it. He obviously ate the others judging by the candy paper stuck in his hair and his mouth full of candy."Don't worry I ate all the ones you didn't like." he added with a completely innocent expression.

"Tsukune-kun, I baked a tray of cookies filled with my love for you. Happy Birthday." said Kurumu, though he noticed her smile was a bit more subdued than normal and she didn't try to embrace him the first chance she got.

"You know rewarding reckless actions gonna make him think it's okay to run forward without thought." said Gin as he sleepily scratched the back of his head, looking like he just woke up."By the time I found a teacher and went after you, you and Ishigami were out cold. Would it have killed you to wait a moment for us?" he huffed, but gave a small smile to his underclassmen."Still, good job. Happy birthday."

"Let's have some fun." said Kurumu with a bright smile as a birthday hat was put on Tsukune's head and a few board games and drinks were brought out.

Though he still felt a little weak thanks to the fight against Ishigami and the skull disease, he was quick to join the festivities and enjoy a birthday spent with so many friends. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Moka drag Tsuna away with a serious expression, but he refrained from pointing it out to the others. He may have been disheartened by Moka's apparent rejection, but she was right, he should treasure his friends. And looking back on his life until now, he realized that he had the most fun, the most excitement since he came to this school for monsters. He couldn't regret any of this.

Of course, a moment later he realized that with Tsuna back he would insist on training in the morning, no matter how little sleep he could get or how weak overall he still felt. The others looked on shocked as he suddenly curled into a ball and began to sob since he just knew that Tsuna will be extra demanding to make up for the lost time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How was it? I debated a lot about how to write the chapter, not liking some of Tsukune's canon reaction, but in the end, I decided to stick to canon for this one.
> 
> A few clarifications about the chapter. The skull disease I changed it that it would kill in 24 hours, instead 2 as in the anime, because I felt that it would be a little more dramatic for Tsukune to worry about the skulls for a whole day. Also, the statue grabbing Ishigami. Since after her defeat every statue returned to normal, I think it requires active concentration in her case. With being cornered and about to be skewered I think her control would slip enough that a statue with a stronger than normal will could do this much. If they can sob then they can grab onto her as well.


	8. Shadows of the past – Tsuna

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first half of Tsuna's solo chapter and we briefly jump back into the mafia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cover: Tsuna is shown in a fancy suit, standing back to back with Dino who has his whip out. Dino has a huge smile on his face while Tsuna shows no emotion.

Reborn was nothing but a through and very annoying bastard, was the sole thought running through Tsuna's head as he tiredly leaned back on his chair, the faint light coming from the laptop before him illuminating his exhausted face. For the past two days, Tsuna's almost every free moment went into looking into the mystery his old mentor handed to him, without any real progress. The memory card, that Reborn hid in the charm he got from Kyoko was unfortunately encrypted, and knowing him, it was so heavily encrypted he wouldn't able to do anything with it even if he had a rudimentary understanding of the subject.

That was so typical of the strongest hitman in the world, that Tsuna was not even sure why he expected anything else. He had a few people in mind who he was sure could crack this code in a second, problem was all of them belonged to the mafia and he was leery of contacting any of them. Add to that he was not sure who to trust, and he found himself without a lot of options.

Loud knocks snapped him out of his thought. Looking in the direction of his door, he noticed that the sun came up while he was busy trying to play detective. Another all-nighter then, he thought to himself with a groan as he stood up and went to open the door. He blinked in surprise when he came to face to face with an entirely too cheery Tsukune, clad in his workout clothes.

"Good morning Tsuna-san. I'm ready for training." the black-haired teen declared full of energy. Tsuna only blinked sleepily at him, not really registering what he was talking about.

"Ah, there will no training today." he said after letting out a huge yawn. He honestly was no in the mood to tortu-train Tsukune and he doubted he would complain much about getting a free day out of nowhere. He knew he wouldn't.

"What do you mean there is no training?" he asked back, confused. So much for not complaining.

"It means I'm not in the mood to train you." was the answer to that, while Tsuna tried his hardest not to snap at the teen. Back in the day, he wouldn't have looked in the mouth of a gift like no training for a whole day.

"What should I do then?"

"No idea. I'm going back to sleep." with that he closed the door, leaving a shocked Tsukune behind.

Instead of sleeping like he told Tsukune, Tsuna only braced himself against the closed doors, putting a hand on his face. Even if he felt like it, training would be pointless for his student. He was already at the ninth bullet count, so, for now, he chose to only train the body, while he figured out what to do. The sad truth was that if he used the tenth bullet, Tsukune will undoubtedly catch the skull disease and the only way to cure it was to use its opposite the angel disease. And that meant contact with the mafia, which he would rather avoid at the moment.

The mafia. It always invoked contradicting emotions within him. It was a scary, dark organization stained by the blood of innocents and criminals alike. It produced scary and ruthless people like Mukuro, Squalo, or Xanxus. The scramble for the rings, the fight in the future against Byakugan. He had to endure and survive all of these deathly situations because of the mafia because it was decided he would be the next head of the powerful Vongola Famiglia. At least that's what he thought.

On the other hand, by being involved in the mafia, he acquired his first friends. Gokudera his self-proclaimed and surprisingly reliable right hand, Yamamoto, Irie and so many more. Even if he stated countless times he will not be Decimo, he couldn't help but stay in that world, where he started to feel more than a failure. Yet, now that he was free of that dark world, he still looked back as if expecting answers of how to go forward. When things got tough he still fell back into his old mindset.

He could have refused the mystery his old teacher presented him with. He doubted he owed Reborn enough after everything, the backstabbing of the mafia no longer involved him. Yet, here he was, spending almost all of his time stressing over a memory card Reborn sent to him.

Tsuna walked back to his desk when his eyes caught a small, worn photo next to one of his school books. He picked up, a slightly bitter smile on his face. It showed him, along with his former guardians, Haru, Kyoko, I-pin, Futa, Bianchi, Dino, and Reborn all standing under an enormous castle made of snow, smiling brightly. Even the elusive Hibari was there, scowling a few feet away from them, along with Chrome who looked very uncomfortable. The Tsuna on the picture didn't seem to be much younger, if he remembered right it was about a month before the inheritance ceremony that changed everything.

The good old days.

With a sigh he placed the picture back where it was before he began to get ready for the upcoming school day, wanting to do something productive during the day.

-0-

"What's wrong with Tsukune-kun? Will he be alright?" Kurumu asked worriedly, fretting over his shoulder. She had tears in her eyes, her hair that always looked flawless was out of its usual ponytail and looked disheveled. Her clothes also had a lot of dirt on them, for once the usually fashionable girl cared little for her appearance. Tsukune lay on Tsuna's futon, clad in only his boxer, unconscious. His breathing was labored but slowly getting under control, sweat gathering at his forehead.

Tsuna refrained from snapping back at her, understanding her worries. He was thankful at least that Moka who was also in his room tried to remain calm, even as she paced back and forth in worry. Yukari was at the kitchen, wetting an unused handkerchief while Lambo only blinked sleepily, woken up by the commotion.

He was about to head into the school when Kurumu burst into his room carrying an unconscious Tsukune, looking scared out of her mind. According to her Tsukune was training by himself, before suddenly fainting. He was unresponsive to her attempts to wake him up, prompting her to take him back to the dorms, hoping the others could help. Luckily, that girl was much stronger than she looked.

"Here you go, Tsuna-nii." the young witch said softly as she handed him the handkerchief. By chance she and Moka encountered Kurumu on the way, helping her bring up the unconscious teen to Tsuna's room. Thankfully very few people were awake at this hour so they didn't encounter anyone, otherwise, the sight of 3 girls carrying a sleeping boy to another boy's room would have been something to see.

"Thank you." he thanked her with a brief smile, before putting the handkerchief to Tsukune's forehead. He was by no means an expert, but Reborn did beat a handful of useful and less useful skills into him in the name of preparation of boss training. It ranged from basic first aid, citing a boss should be able to look after their subordinates to juggling since a boss should have the ability to entertain their guests.

He shook his head, trying to ward off his wandering thoughts, before focusing once again on Tsukune. From what little he could determine, he seemed to be alright for the most part, with his body temperature the only thing slightly elevated, hence the wet handkerchief. His pulse and breathing were steady, he was a little paler than he should have been but it looked more like exhaustion than anything else.

He looked up from where he was kneeling next to Tsukune, meeting the anxious gazes of the girls. He tried to give them a smile, to try and calm them down a little but had little success. With a quiet groan, he stood up, stretching his sore muscles.

"He seems to be alright save for a low fever." he told them, making Moka and Kurumu practically to sag in relief. Despite this, his face turned serious as he stared at the succubus."Can you tell me what exactly happened? What was Tsukune doing before collapsing?" he asked her. He was well aware thanks to his constant training what were Tsukune's current limits and he didn't think it was simple overworking this time. That meant he needed all the information he could get.

Kurumu blinked slowly, lifting a finger to her chin as she began to think.

"Well, I brought Tsukune-kun some breakfast and we talked a little as we ate. He looked a little fired up after it and suddenly used his power, to tear through a bunch of exercises." she said as she remembered back, a little red dusting her cheeks, no doubt because Tsukune lost his clothes."Only after the fire disappeared from his forehead, he looked dizzy and fainted immediately after that."

"That boneheaded idiot." Tsuna cursed as his suspicions were confirmed, glaring down at the sleeping teen in anger. He doubted that at this point Tsukune was capable of going dying will mode without a big enough emotional stimulus, so the only option was that he got his hands on dying will pills. It didn't take long to figure out when he could have done it. Tsuna cursed his own carelessness, as he figured out the exact problem.

Skull disease. Though he did not remember having such a violent reaction after the tenth shot, he knew he shouldn't use himself as a base for something like this, since many people told him in the past that he had an unnatural growth speed. He racked his brain trying to gather what he could still remember about the disease save for being deadly and without an actual cure. He had a day maybe two if he was lucky before the disease showed up, so he needed to hurry to get hold of Shamal, the only one he knew to have the angel disease which can counter it.

He felt himself being driven into a corner. He needed to contact that womanizer doctor and make him come here to treat Tsukune, without the title of Vongola Decimo helping things along. He was a non-entity now, someone without anything to his name. He needed to call in a few favors since he didn't even know where Shamal was currently.

He felt a hand hesitantly touch his shoulder, jolting him out of his thoughts. Looking up he met the soft gaze of Moka who was staring at him with worry. Worry for him, not Tsukune this time.

"Tsuna-kun?" at the sound of her voice his anger drained away, his whole body relaxing instantly. It still amazed him how easily she could affect him, just her presence dulled his instincts, made him relax his guard. A large part of him, the one most affected by the mafia worried it was too easy, she had too much control over him, but a smaller part of him, one that sounded a lot like his younger self told him it was nice to have someone you could depend on, instead of them depending on you.

He gave her a small smile in answer to her unspoken question, before turning toward the still worried succubus.

"His power simply went out of control." he lied without a single moment of hesitation and deep down a part of him cried at the realization of how easy it became to lie to his friends."That's the reason he usually uses his powers when I am there to help if anything happens. His power backfired on his body, leaving him in an exhausted state. He will probably sleep for most of the day but by this time tomorrow he should be fine." he explained."I will put him back to his room, so he could rest comfortably." he said as he picked up the unconscious teen.

"Are you sure?" Moka asked, stepping closer. She eyed him with a semi-stern gaze, feeling as if he wasn't one hundred percent truthful.

"Absolutely." Tsuna tried for a reassuring smile but even he knew how weak it was. Still, the vampire decided to let the matter go, opening the door for him. He stepped out, Moka and Kurumu following closely.

"Tsuna-nii's and Tsukune-san's power sounds very dangerous and hard to use." commented Yukari to herself as she went last, closing the door, leaving behind Lambo who fell asleep with his face in his bowl of cereal.

"There we go." murmured Tsuna as he put Tsukune down in his room to his own futon, before straightening out.

As soon as he stepped away Kurumu kneeled next to the sleeping teen, quickly wiping away the sweat from his face, wearing a caring expression. He was sure that if the room's occupant wasn't unconscious she would have been looking around with interest, finding herself in the room of her destined one, but now she only could look in worry at the slumbering Tsukune.

"I'll stay and look after Tsukune-kun." she said resolutely, not even looking back at them. Tsuna simply hummed in acknowledgment, while Moka tried to object.

"But-" she began to say but stopped when Tsuna placed a hand on her shoulder, subtly shook his head. The vampire may not notice, but Tsuna heard clearly the resolution in Kurumu's voice. It was the kind that you couldn't change with simple words.

Tsuna had to admit his initial assessment of the girl was wrong. There was no trace of the vain and manipulative girl he first met, instead she was a bold, caring, and affectionate young girl who he was proud to call his friend.

"We'll be back after school." he said in the end."We will also get some food for you. If you need anything you can send Lambo for us, but Tsukune probably will just sleep like a baby." Kurumu responded with a simple nod to that, still keeping an eye on Tsukune.

Moka stood in place, biting her lip in worry before giving in and heading out. Yukari also followed her with a quick goodbye to Kurumu. Tsuna was the last to leave, staring intently at Tsukune. He felt responsible for his condition, even if it occurred because of the raven-haired human's own carelessness. He was the one who introduced him to the dying will bullets and subsequently made him part of the dark world of the Mafia. He owed it to him to try everything in his power to save him.

"Don't you dare die on me, idiot." he murmured before exiting the room.

"Guess, it's time to go to class." Moka whispered, looking a little uncertain as they left the dorms. It was later compared to when they usually leave and a lot more students were awake and rushing towards the school building. She walked with Yukari next to her and Tsuna trailing behind them. Thankfully the appearance of one of the school idols made the students leave a comfortable berth around them so they could walk without any real problem.

"About that." he said with a sheepish chuckle, scratching the back of his head."You guys go ahead, I have some business to attend. I will catch up to you later." he told them, turning toward a smaller path, about to part ways with the girls.

"Tsuna-nii? Is everything alright?" asked Yukari, eying him in worry as they stopped.

"Don't worry, it's nothing serious." he reassured them with a small smile. "I had a few things I had to do this morning that got delayed by the situation with Tsukune. I'll probably make it back in time class." he told them.

Both Moka and Yukari looked uncertain, ready to protest, but after a moment the vampire given.

"Alright, please don't be late Tsuna-kun." she said as she took Yukari's hand and they started to walk once again.

Tsuna's smile faded as soon as he turned away from them, grateful for them not questioning too much. He took a slight detour to his destination, needing the time to put together his thoughts. For him to be able to save Tsukune, he needed to step back into the bloodthirsty world of the mafia and a lot of conflicting feelings arose. A sense of nostalgic familiarity, of the peaceful times he spent with his family, but it was overshadowed by the pain of betrayal, the hurt of being abandoned. He gritted his teeth as he remembered the aftermath of the inheritance ceremony how many people turned against him, but also those who remained firm on his side.

Despite his own failing body he had yet to try and find a cure from the mafia since it was obviously related to his dying will flames. Part of it was wariness, not knowing who to trust, part of it was sheer stubbornness after what happened to him, but there was also a part that simply didn't care. Until he came to Youkai Academy and befriended Moka and Tsukune he simply went through the motions, not having any feeling behind them. But now things changed, too many things piled up for him to put off contacting someone from the mafia any longer. Tsukune probably catching the skull disease, his own budding will to live and walk forward and there was also Reborn's mystery.

A soft growl came from his ring and he gave his partner a small smile.

"At least you will be with me, buddy. Nothing can go wrong if the two of us are together." he told Natsu fondly, as another growl came, sounding happy.ú

He soon arrived back at the dorms, most of the students already left for class. He went to the telephone and he was thankful there was nobody there, he rather no one eavesdrop. Just to be sure he checked around to confirm no one was around before he began to dial a number.

As he waited for the other side to connect, he felt an odd sense of nervousness. It has been months since they talked, before coming to the school he made a point to stay away from anything mafia-related, he wondered how the one he was calling would react. Nonetheless, he was probably the only one he knew for sure that he could trust for now and had the necessary influence to help him get hold of Shamal and a few other answers he was seeking.

With a click, the phone was picked up, an older, steady voice coming from it.

"Good afternoon. Who am I speaking to?" came the question in Italian, a little suspicion coloring the voice. It was not surprising since he was aware that not many people knew that number.

"Hey, Romario, it's me, Tsuna." he greeted back Dino's second-in-command in Italian, a pleasant quality to his voice. He always liked Romario, mostly for his ability to appear unexpectedly and stop Dino from making situations worse with his clumsiness. Aside from that, he was reliable and had a kind disposition, that he knew was completely genuine, something quite rare in the mafia.

"Tsunayosh-kun." Tsuna could practically hear Romario's smile through the phone."It's good to hear from you, sir. Boss was worried since it had been a while since he heard from you. How are you doing?"

"Could be better, could be worse." he answered, trying to sound upbeat. "Sorry to cut the small talk short, Romario, but could I talk to Dino? It's kind of urgent." he explained.

"It seems you are in luck then, the boss just finished a meeting and is currently free." answered Romario as Tsuna heard the sound of moving along with a door opening. He faintly heard a few words in Italian, before an exuberant voice practically screamed into the phone, forcing him to hold it away from himself, less his ears receive damage.

"Little brother! I was so worried, you didn't call for so long. Then I heard you went to a boarding school, and I was tearing up, my precious little brother is growing up." his voice somehow was cheery all the while he whining about how abandoned he felt, now that his little brother didn't need him anymore. Hearing him talk like that, not many people could be convinced that he was the head of the Cavallone family, the third strongest in the Vongola Alliance, a bona fide mafioso."How are you doing? Did you make any friends? Maybe meet a nice girl? Don't tell me you are bullied? Just give the word and I will be over there with a few of my men to teach them some manners. I will even unleash Enzio on them." he rattled on. It was endearing and Tsuna honestly felt touched, but it was not the point of this call.

"Dino." he spoke softly but with a firm edge to it, using the so-called boss voice. Dino abruptly shut up then, and Tsuna instantly felt bad about cutting off the man who was nothing but supportive and friendly ever since he met him. He gave a loud sigh, his hand massaging his temples, trying to ward off the oncoming headache. "Sorry, I know it's been a while since we properly talked, but I need your help." he admitted. As much as he tried to look all-knowing and self-assured to Moka and the others, he was aware that the truth was anything but that. Dino was one of the few he felt able to admit it.

"Are you in trouble?" came the question from his older brother figure. It always amazed him how quickly Dino could slip between his goofy and boss attitudes.

"Not really, but one of my friends is not exactly in good condition right now and I need help." Tsuna admitted though he tried not to say anything definitive. Who knows who's eavesdropping on the call. "I need to talk to you, face to face as soon as you can." he said, knowing at best Tsukune had a few days to live."I also need you to contact Shamal and bring him with you if you can."

There was a long silence from the other side and for a moment Tsuna feared that Dino would refuse. Truth to be told he had very few people he could turn to right now. Thankfully after a long moment, Dino answered.

"I'll see what I can do. If I push a few things to a later date I can be at your school tomorrow morning in your timezone." he told him, and Tsuna couldn't help but frown. He was aware Dino could not just throw everything away and fly to Japan with Shamal in tow, and it was really the best response he could hope for, but it still left little time to him.

"Rather than the school, let's meet in Tokyo." he hurried to say, not wanting the mafia to meet the world of monsters. The introduction from that strange girl, made him hesitate, wondering how much either world knows of the other. But until he could be sure of that, he would rather avoid mixing up the two, not to mention he wouldn't classify this place as a safe meeting spot. "I also have some other business there so I already planned to go back to Tokyo." after all, he should really visit that mysterious merchant if she decided to give him an invitation. Probably before she tries more drastic methods to have him come to her.

"Alright, there is a hotel that I own where we could meet." agreed Dino, before giving him an address, that he hurried to write down."I'll bring my men and one more person with me. Don't worry, they are trustworthy, but it would be better if they were also present." he added, surprising Tsuna.

"Why?" he asked simply. He knew Dino was not the sort of person to do something like that without good reason, so it would involve something serious, especially if he was careful not to give any information about this mysterious third member.

"A few things happened around here, that I think you should know before you are caught unaware." he explained somberly, with a little frustration seeping in."That person also has information that I don't have access to, so we should compare what we know."

"But I'm no longer directly involved with those guys." Tsuna said, referring to the mafia in confusion.

"Still, the way things are going around here, it would be better to be prepared." the boss of Cavallone said, a note of finality in his voice."There is one other thing I better tell you now. Reborn is missing."

"What"? he asked back in shock.

"He's missing. No one heard anything about him in weeks and from what little we found out, he was investigating something on the side, before disappearing." explained Dino. He stayed silent for a long moment, waiting to hear Tsuna's reaction, but in the end, he simply sighed."I'll see you tomorrow Tsuna, and I'll explain everything properly." he said before the line went silent. He knew that his adoptive brother needed time to come to terms with the information he gave him.

Tsuna stood there, blankly staring at the phone, his mind whirling in shock. He tried to think things through, take stock of the situations. Reborn was missing, probably quite a long time ago if even Dino became worried, who knew very well their old tutor's penchant of disappearing at random. It was probably no coincidence that he sent him his gloves, along with a note warning him about something and that memory card. He must have realized someone was onto him and made necessary precautions.

No matter how much he didn't want to admit it, it made a lot of sense. He was in a remote location, separated from the human world for the most part and he was a non-entity. Not many people would think that the strongest hitman in the world would turn to his failure as a student for help. It made sense from a purely logical standpoint. It didn't mean he had to like it.

He stared at the phone, deep in thought. Even if he wanted, he couldn't back out. It was no longer one of Reborn's schemes, his old tutor was in real trouble by the sound of it. And a lot more things were looking none too good if Dino's tone was any indication.

"Damn me and my idiotically soft heart." he cursed to himself, knowing he couldn't back out in good conscience. Instead, he began dialing another number, the one Reborn sent him with the memory card.

As the other end picked up, his eyes widened in disbelief as he heard a most unexpected voice.

"Who the hell are you? How do you have this number?" an angry, impatient voice demanded, along with a plethora of curses. Still, despite the tone, he could recognize the voice anywhere.

"Gokudera." he mumbled softly, but still loud enough to be heard. Shocked silence greeted him as his former right-hand man recognized him.

Gokudera Hayato was someone he had mixed feelings for. He first met him as the scary hitman, intent on taking the spot of decimo from him, yet after saving him he became an overeager puppy, calling himself his subordinate. At that time, he feared Gokudera. He represented everything from the mafia he didn't want anything to do with, he was a constant reminder of his so far inevitable fate. It also didn't help that instead of a friend, he insisted he was a subordinate, making Tsuna even warier of him.

But over time, over many hardships, he proved himself as a true comrade, a friend he was proud to have at his side. He was the one who followed him anywhere without protest, who was behind him, even if he did not want him to. For a time, he was not sure who was Gokudera really loyal to. Him, Tsuna, or the Juudaime he created in his mind.

When Gokudera went back to Italy, swearing vengeance on his name he was feeling torn. Part of him wanted to believe him, it was the sort of hair-brained thing that his usually hotheaded storm guardian would do. But there was that traitorous part of him, that believed it was just an excuse to abandon him and as time passed these doubts just grew without him noticing.

"Juudaime!" Gokudera cried out in the phone, the sound of people yelling in worry coming from the background as he also heard of something hard colliding with stone. Knowing Gokudera, he was in the middle of a street and began to bash his head into the ground while in traditional seiza, not even bothering with the fact that Tsuna couldn't see it. "I'm so sorry, I had no idea you would be calling me Boss. Please forgive me for yelling at you, it was completely uncalled for, I sincerely apologize for that." he rambled on and Tsuna felt amusement hearing him ramble on after so long.

Still, he tried to keep his emotions under control. No matter how he felt toward Gokudera, the truth was he needed his help. After Tsukune was not dying anymore and he had time to process all the things that happened he could go back and think about how he felt. Until then he would keep Gokudera at arm's length.

"You do remember I'm no longer vongola juudaime?" he asked with a tired voice, but there was a definitive edge to it.

"To me you are. And always will be." the heartfelt words shocked him so strongly, he could only gape in silence at the phone for a long moment."How did you get this number? I only got this one around a month ago." Gokudera asked curiously when he didn't answer.

Tsuna put a hand on his face, feeling drained beyond belief. He had to concentrate on the matter at hand, he told himself, everything else can come after that. If he is even alive by that time, he noted to himself, perfectly aware of his own condition.

"Reborn gave it to me." he said and that was the only explanation needed. "Gokudera, I need a favor from you. You are still in Italy?" he asked, wanting to make sure.

"Of course Juudaime, I will do whatever you need. As your right-hand it would be my greatest honor." came the eager response as usual."Yes, I'm still in Italy. Unfortunately, the plan to avenge the slight against you is slow going and I had to try more indirect methods." he explained in a completely serious manner and Tsuna felt the odd urge to laugh. Good old Gokudera, he thought with fondness.

„Good. Please meet with Dino in a few days." he explained and heard the question of „Bucking Horse?" from the other end. "I'm meeting with him tomorrow and I'm gonna give him something I would like you to give a thorough look." he said, trying to be as cryptic as possible, he hoped he could give Dino a more thorough message.

"Understood." thankfully the former hitman understood easily enough how unreliable a simple telephone line could be. "I will go back to Japan as soon as I met up with the Bucking Horse." he promised, a strange calmness in his voice. Sometimes Tsuna forgot that over the years he wasn't the only one who changed. He got more used to the mafia, got a little jaded and less naive, while Gokudera was still a hothead, he was able to think calmly and logically when the situation called for it.

"No, I rather you stay in Italy for the time being." he told him, not wanting his overeager friend here in the volatile pit called youkai academy, especially while who knows what happens in the mafia side of the world."I will call you later, but for now, we shouldn't be seen together." Reborn probably had a reason to encrypt that memory card, while also giving him his storm's newest phone number. He rather no one with ill intentions connected the dots for as long as he could.

"Yes, Juudaime." Gokudera's voice sounded so sad, that he could almost taste it. He always felt like he killed a puppy, whenever he said no to the bomber.

"Okay, I'll talk to you after my meeting with Dino." he promised."Take care, Gokudera."

"Of course, I will complete your orders without error." he promised before Tsuna had enough and ended the call. He numbly stared ahead, mentally drained from the conversation with his former storm. Trust Reborn to force him to face things he would happily postpone for at least ten years.

Well at least he was able to set up a meeting, now to find a way off-campus.

-0-

Despite his words to Moka, in the end, he didn't go to class. Instead, he skipped the day and went to find the ever so elusive headmaster of the school. But just like the day he arrived, his search proved fruitless. By the time he went another round around the school, sent from one place to the next, the classes were almost over and he was not a little frustrated.

He once again began to walk toward the teacher's lounge, trying to talk to Nekonome-sensei as a last resort, though he was unsure if she had the authority to let him leave when an amused voice stopped him,

"Don't space out too much, boy, Youkai Academy is full of dangerous monsters." he heard from his left, accompanied by a quiet laugh. Whirling to the side, Tsuna was dismayed to find the bus driver who had taken him and Tsukune to the school, leaning casually on the wall, smoking a cigar without a care in the world. He had a small mustache and his eyes gloved in a yellow light beneath the shadow of his hat. "Long time no see." he greeted him lazily with a smirk on his face.

"You are-?" Tsuna gaped in shock, reflexively taking a step back. He was unnerved by the creepy man who was somehow able to sneak up on him. Thanks to the awareness granted by his blood, he was almost constantly aware of his surrounding, making it hard for others to sneak upon him. Reborn worked him to the bone to master this ability and he was proud of it. Either he was so distracted that he slipped up to that extent, or this bus driver was more than meets the eye.

"You look like you've seen a ghost." the strange man laughed to himself, completely relaxed. Too relaxed to be genuine and it put Tsuna on alert. He subtly changed his stance, to a position that he could quickly get away if this turned ugly.

"What do you want?" he demanded, watching every move of the man with narrowed eyes. The driver only chuckled at how wary he acted toward him, content on smoking his cigar instead of answering, further annoying the brown-haired teen who was not in the greatest of moods. "Forget it, I have better things to do." he said as he finally ran out of patience, turning around, intending to leave when he was once again stopped.

"No need to be so hasty, boy." he said, finally stepping away from the wall, closer to Tsuna. There was no ill intent from the man, only a general creepiness, that made people keep their distance. He instantly tensed as the driver made a move to pull something out of his coat, but relaxed when it was some kind of envelope."I got a very interesting paper from the headmaster, one authorizing one Sawada Tsunayoshi to leave the school campus for an indefinite time. And as your luck would have it, I just happen to plan to go into the human world tomorrow morning." he informed him with a sly smile.

Tsuna eyed the man seriously, while he silently cursed himself. It was too much to hope that he could remain hidden from the headmaster, but it still grated him slightly, to be overplayed like that. He was already at that man's mercy, being a human, a former mafioso at that in a school for monsters, but it just confirmed that the headmaster was very aware of that too. He once again reminded him of Reborn.

"What's the catch?" he asked, going over the very convenient solution to his current problem, his thoughts whirling. Does the headmaster know about the skull disease? How much he knew about the mafia and dying will flames?

"Let's just say, you will owe the headmaster a favor." the man's smirk widened as he pointed his smoking cigar at him. Tsuna knew he was cornered, he couldn't afford to decline, but it didn't mean he had to like it. No one liked it when they were offered choices, that weren't really choices in the end.

"Fine." he agreed, taking the envelope. "When will the bus depart?" he asked.

"Let's say 5 am. The crisp morning air is a good way to preserve your health." he said, giving the teen a pointed look, who tried not to show any reaction. So they were even aware of his condition.

With a simple nod, he walked away, leaving behind the bus driver who chuckled to himself. His mind was working overtime. Who was the headmaster? All he found out that his name was Mikogami, but it meant little to him. Who was the bus driver? What was the connection between them? But most importantly, what were they planning that involved him?

-0-

"Looks like his fever finally went down." commented Moka as she gently wiped Tsukune's forehead with a towel.

Tsuna and Moka were in Tsukune's room, taking care of the still sleeping teen. After classes they met up, where Tsuna had to endure Moka's pouting for skipping the whole day, before they went to the newspaper club, informing Gin they would skip today's club activities to look after Tsukune. The older student let them off easily, he seemed to be preoccupied with something else.

After that, they sent Kurumu back to her dorm to fresh up and eat, promising to alert her if anything happened. With his fever gone, Tsukune looked like he was simply sleeping, and from what Tsuna could observe this was exactly it. He was just simply exhausted, the dying will fire, simply drained his reserves, to the point he collapsed.

"Give him a few hours and he would be up as if nothing happened." he said, placing a hand on her shoulder. It was clear she spent the whole day worrying about their friend, so he tried to reassure her as much as he could. Even if he was quite worried.

"I'm still angry you didn't come to class." she said, looking up and once again bombarding him with her angry pout. Tsuna sheepishly laughed as he scratched the back of his head and looked away. 'Don't look into her eyes.' he told himself, 'that's how she makes you guilty.'

"About that," he gave her an apologetic smile as he decided to break out the bad news. "I'll be gone for a few days. I skipped today, so I can arrange it with the school. I'm leaving tomorrow morning." he told her, trying to make it sound not important."It will only be a few days at most."

"You're leaving? But why?" asked Moka, who looked shocked at the idea of him leaving. She stared at him for a second, before something seemed to click into place and she gave him a worried look. "Is something really wrong with Tsukune? Is that why you are going? To get help for him?" she pressed. It amazed Tsuna, how accurately the vampire could read the situation.

"That's not it." he said, the lie giving a sour taste in his mouth. Still, there was no need to tell her, she would only worry that wouldn't help anybody. It was better to let her think everything was alright."The reason I have to go back is because of a family emergency. Well not really an emergency, but it's better if I go back and check a few things out. I promise Tsukune will be alright and if it helps you keep calm I also look into making sure Tsukune has nothing wrong with him." he promised and it helped that the last part wasn't really a lie.

"By going back, you mean that hidden society you were talking about? The one where you got that power of yours, the dying will flame?" she asked, looking more worried by the second. Tsuna stepped back in instinct, that girl was just too sharp sometimes. It was easy to forget, that despite her cute looks and generally naive personality she was an intelligent young woman.

"Yeah, but don't worry. It's nothing serious, as I said I only want to check back, something I can't do over the phone." he explained, trying to find some way to change the subject. It was sounding more and more like an interrogation.

"How can I not worry?" the vampire cried out in frustration, surprising him. He looked at her as she glared at him, even though tears gathered in her eyes."You always turn guarded and distant whenever this topic comes up. It's clear to me that place caused you a lot of pain, that made you mistrust your friends and yet you just told me you are going back! Especially now that Tsukune is ill after using that very same power you got from there!" she bowed her head, not looking at him anymore. Her shoulders trembled, she seemed at the end of her rope."You tell me nothing about it, all I know that that place is dangerous. I already dislike the human world because of my experiences and the thought of an even more dangerous part of it...Of course, I worry."

She was cut off when Tsuna suddenly embraced her, catching her completely off guard. As her body was pushed to his, she noticed maybe for the first time how thin her friend was. He was a little taller than her and ever since she knew him he stood strong, looking like nothing could shake him. He had muscles, yes, but he was also lithe, so it didn't show. And as he clutched onto her, he seemed so frail to her.

"Tsuna...-kun?" she asked, shocked by the gesture. She embraced him plenty of times, especially when she sucked his blood, but every time he was slow to reciprocate, and he was never the one to initiate. Until now.

"Please don't ask this of me." he whispered next to her ear, his voice tense with emotion. "The darkness of that world, I want to keep it away from you, as long as I can." he confessed to her."Even now, I'm not sure how I feel about my past. It made me the man who I am today, the one that met you, Tsukune, Kurumu, Yukari, even Gin. But for now, I want to live in these carefree days, where I don't have to worry either about the past or the future. Please, let me keep you away from that, just a little longer." he pleaded to her softly.

"Okay." she answered back softly, her heart aching at the pain she heard from his voice. Abruptly, Tsuna let go and stepped past her, going back to stand before Tsukune's futon.

"Why don't you go back and help Kurumu a little?" he asked, sounding too cheerful to be genuine. She didn't need to look at him, to know he had a fake smile plastered on his face."Maybe you could make some food for Tsukune when he wakes up? He ough to be famished."

"Right." she nodded, brushing away the tears. Before she exited Tsukune's room, she looked back once again and could only think of how lonely Tsuna seemed to be as she looked at his back.

-0-

Tsuna yawned sleepily as he trudged through the barren leading to the bus stop. The first rays of the sun were barely peeking through the clouds, most of the school still shrouded in darkness. It was spooky as hell, but he has gotten used to the general frightening quality of the place that he could ignore it and concentrate on something important. Like trying no to doze off while walking.

Unfortunately, he got very little sleep the night before. A lot of conflicting feelings decided to wage war inside him, so instead of sleeping, he ended up in Tsukune's room, watching over the teen in case anything was wrong. He managed to catch the black-haired teen just as he finally woke up and ended up letting out a threatening, angry tirade of his own, cursing himself and Tsukune as well for the whole situation.

"Tsuna-kun." a voice too chipper for the cool morning rang out behind him, causing him to turn around.

He wore simple jeans, along with a black shirt and a white hoodie with the number 27 in red on the front. He had a backpack over his shoulder, filled with only the bare essentials so it was light.

Moka, clad in her school uniform was running toward him with a bright smile. The crisp morning air, along with all the running brought a nice shade of red to her cheeks. Though as soon as he realized where his thoughts headed, Tsuna carefully shoved it to the back of his mind.

"Morning." he waved lazily to her, he was never really a morning person, his current sleep-deprived state not helping any.

"I'm so glad I caught you before you left." she said as she stopped before him. She was barely out of breath, even though the dorms were quite far from there. Vampires and their stamina.

"You do realize, I'll probably back by tomorrow?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. "Nothing will happen." he said to her, noticing the worry in her eyes.

"I know that." her blush remained as she looked away, not meeting his eyes. "But, I want you to promise me that you will come back and everything will be alright. I treasure these peaceful days with my friends, and I don't want them to end." she admitted, placing a hand on her heart. Tsuna couldn't help the soft smile on his face at her words.

"I promise." she looked up, meeting his soft smile. "After all, I also treasure these days, just as well. I will come back." he promised her.

"Thank you, Tsuna-kun." she said, her eyes suspiciously misty.

Noticing her gaze slightly sliding away from his face, he gave her a wry gave as he pushed aside the neck of his hoodie, giving her free access to his neck.

"Take your fill. Don't want you to go hungry because of me." he told her and Moka blushed brighter even as she approached him.

"Thank you." she said, before leaning down and biting him. They stood there, embracing while she took her drink, though she didn't let go even when she was finished, instead she let herself simply bask in his arms."Stay safe." she whispered to his ear as she finally let go of him.

"Yeah." he answered back softly before they stepped away from each other. A quick check of his watch confirmed it was time to go. "I visited Tsukune just before I left, you should go see him. He seemed alright for the most part." he informed her before he turned around and started to walk."See you." he called to her back once more.

"See you later, Tsuna-kun:" she also said her goodbyes, before she went back to the dorms.

Tsuna walked quietly for a few steps, before stopping. Making sure that Moka was far enough, he looked to the side, into the dark forest.

"It's awfully courteous of you to announce your presence like that." he said with a blank look as the chuckling bus driver came out of the forest, smoking a cigar all the same. Unlike yesterday he sensed his presence, though he had no illusions about that it was because the man let him.

"You had such a nice little moment with your girlie, I would have hated to disturb you." he said, before fixing his gaze on him. Tsuna felt wary of the intense glow that came from his eyes."Are you ready?" he asked, and Tsuna felt that he was talking about more than just his trip to the human world.

"Yeah." he agreed, before following the bus driver, leaving Youkai Academy for the time being.

-0-

The trip was short, shorter than he expected, but he guessed he shouldn't have been surprised. They exited the academy and entered the human world through a long tunnel, that the bus driver calling it a dimensional portal or something like that. As they made their way to Tokyo the both of them remained silent, though the driver introduced himself as Nurari after asked by Tsuna.

Tsuna sat at the front of the bus, looking out toward the bustling city of Tokyo with a nostalgic expression. He got so used to the world of monsters after these few months it felt strange being back. He also noted with increasing annoyance that they seemed to head in the exact direction where his meeting place with Dino was.

"There goes any semblance of privacy." he made his annoyance known, causing Nurari to chuckle of himself.

"You talk as if your kind is any different." he said with a knowing glint in his eyes as he looked at the former mafioso's way. Tsuna scoffed, but couldn't refute his worlds.

They once again fell into silence, and at least it gave Tsuna time to prepare. He was about to make contact with the mafia after avoiding it for so long, and from the sounds of it, Dino didn't have good news from him. Coupled with Reborn going MIA and Tsukune's impending fate, he didn't have a lot of room for his own emotional troubles.

"We arrived." commented Nurari quietly, shaking him out of his thoughts.

Looking out the window he was met with the sight of a beautiful five-star hotel. Its architecture was clearly western and stood out like a sore thumb in the middle of Tokyo, but was impressive nonetheless. Tsuna withheld a small grin as he stood up and approached the open doors. Dino, ever since he knew him was anything but subtle.

"When will the bus go back to the school." he asked, before taking off, looking back at the grinning driver.

"Don't worry about it, I'll be here waiting for you by the time you are ready to go back." Nurari grinned in response, lighting up a cigar that appeared out of nowhere in his hands.

Tsuna couldn't help but feel unnerved by the man. He got the faint sense that even if his body was in prime condition and had access to his flames properly, even then he wouldn't be able to pose a threat to the creepy old man. It was a feeling similar that he sometimes got from Reborn when the hitman wanted to make a point. It was an eerie feeling.

"One more thing." he called back with an eerie smile on his face. "You better watch your temper, boy, or your blood will boil you alive." he told Tsuna ominously, before closing the bus door and driving away.

Slightly caught off-guard by those words, he hesitated for a moment, before shrugging it off and entering the hotel. Immediately he felt out of place, it was the definite of high class. Everyone wore expensive dresses and tuxedos, representing the rich and famous. And there he was, an ordinary high schooler in baggy jeans and a hoodie, standing around like an idiot.

He already noticed a stuffy man who by his clothes must have worked here, stride his way a severe, disapproving expression on his face, already judging him as someone worthless and obviously not belonging here. But before he could reach him another man reached him, greeting him warmly. He had short black hair, a small mustache, and wore rectangular glasses. It was Romario, one of Dino's subordinates.

"Good morning, Tsunayoshi-dono. I trust your trip was to your satisfaction?" he asked loudly, catching the attention of people around them. Tsuna wondered for a moment why would he address him like that, when he caught the older man wink at him conspiratorially, and with a small grin decided to play along.

"It was adequate, Romario." he said, subtly correcting his stance, to give the impression of a rich boy, pompous and arrogant beyond measure. Representation was everything, that was one of Reborn's frequent lessons. "Has my big brother arrived yet?" he asked as he handed Romario his backpack.

Both of them struggled to hide their grins as the people around them stopped giving him disdainful stares, instead choosing to evaluate him with a critical eye. They recognized that Romario worked in some capacity for some high-class family and seeing how he treated Tsuna, they made their assumptions.

"Yes, he did. Dino-san and his guest are currently having breakfast. If you could follow me?" he asked, indicating toward the elevator with his arm. Tsuna nodded in acceptance and went to it, Romario following behind him. They soon were in a thankfully empty elevator and as the doors closed they saw the calculating expressions on many of the hotel's occupants.

Tsuna couldn't help the small laugh that escaped him as the elevator started moving and even the older man sported a grin on his face. He held out his hand and took back his backpack from Romario, letting his tense body slowly relax, safe in the knowledge that Romario was one of the few people he could trust.

"It's good to see you, Tsunayoshi-kun." Dino's second-in-command said as he straightened his glasses, a genuine expression on him. Tsuna only noticed now, that he seemed a few gray hairs, mostly at the front. 'He's starting to look like he did in the future:' he thoughts with a wry grin.

"You too Romario." he answered, but he soon lost his smile and stared ahead with a serious expression. "Dino's guest. Who is it?" he inquired, but the older man only shook his head.

"Boss told me not to reveal until you meet them." he admitted, though added as Tsuna's face darkened."Safe to say, that both Dino-san and I trust them, so please reserve judgment."

The young teen stayed silent for a long moment before he gave a nod in agreement. A moment later the elevator stopped and they stepped out into a floor just as lavish as the entrance, though there was one glaring difference. The floor was full of Dino's men, ready and alert for anything. They gave him respectful nods as Romario led him to one of the doors.

The mafioso opened for him, before gesturing him to go ahead. Stepping in, Tsuna found himself in a large dining room. At the center of it was an equally large dining table, a familiar figure sitting at the head of it.

Dino Cavallone, the 10th generation boss of the Cavallone family didn't change much since they last met. His shaggy, blonde hair seemed to be a little longer, but otherwise, he was the same. He wore a red shirt and his green leather jacket was on the chair he was sitting. He was just finishing breakfast when he noticed Tsuna's entry, enthusiastically waving with his tattoo-covered left hand to his little brother.

"Tsuna, you came at a perfect time." he called out to Tsuna who was slowly walking toward him."Come, have some breakfast."

Tsuna gave a fond smile to Dino and was about to join him when he noticed a figure sitting at the mafia boss's right. He stopped in his tracks, his body suddenly tensed, his eyes wide in shock as he noticed the small person, looking at him.

She was a small infant at first glance, with dark blue hair and red-brown hair, and tan skin. She had a crimson cape colored cape on her, her infrared visor rested next to her on the table and a grey, discolored pacifier hung around her neck. She was an arcobaleno, but more importantly, she was one of his teachers during his time trapped in the future.

"Lal Milch!" he mouthed as she placed down the teacup in her hands to look at him with a neutral gaze.

"Sawada." she greeted him, but Tsuna didn't let himself relax. He had a large amount of respect for her, but there was one thing: she belonged to the cedef, worked under his father, and had direct contact with the vongola family. And while with Dino, the man had his absolute trust, he was not sure of his former trainer's loyalty.

"Sit down, Tsuna." Dino told him, with a hard to miss edge to his voice. Despite his reservations, he was well aware that it was Dino that currently held the cards."We are all friends here, despite what you may think." he told him, before gesturing the wide range of food around the table."Please, eat. We have a lot to talk about and it will be easier with a full stomach.

Tsuna followed his instructions sat down, across Lal Mirch, his whole still tense. Only the fact that he trusted Dino with his life and Natsu's reassuring presence in the ring made him lower his guard slightly. Neither DIno nor Lal Mitch missed his tense posture but refrained commenting on it.

This was sure to be an interesting meeting.


	9. Shadows of the past part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsuna learns about the mafia's affairs, a little history of the vongola there and finally meets the mysterious merchant of the truth

"Sit down, Tsuna and have some breakfast." said Dino genuinely, through there was a hint of steel in his voice, telling him not to lose his cool as he gestured toward the table. There was a variety of foods laid down, reminding him he didn't eat before leaving school.

Deciding to do something productive, he grabbed a seat and picked a couple of toasts, and began to butter them. Though he couldn't help but take a wary look at the cedef agent sitting across him, who noticed and gave a wicked smile.

"You're still afraid of me, Sawada?" she asked with a prideful tone.

"That's not it." he denied instantly, shaking his head. Though he had a healthy respect for his trainer, similar to Reborn, his current attitude didn't stem from this fact. "The last time I met my father," he sneered the words, his anger breaking through his calm facade." he suggested sealing my flames away and practically leaving me braindead. So excuse me if I find myself distrustful of any subordinate of his." he explained as he put the toast down and took a deep breath, trying to remain calm.

Lal regarded him coolly for a moment, before a soft smile appeared on her face, taking Tsuna back. The words Lal and soft usually never appeared in the same sentence.

"Good, be wary but don't turn away from any possible allies." she praised as she slowly drank the last of her coffee."The reason I am here because my trust was shaken by Iemitsu's actions that day and the actions he took since then. As far as he and cedef know I'm currently at Mafia Island, spending my vacation time with Colonello." she explained, a little disgruntled.

Tsuna looked at Dino, silently asking with his eyes if Lal and the rain arcobaleno still danced around each other and he got his answer in the way of a bright, sunny smile from his older brother. He skillfully leaned to the side, just avoiding the cup Lal threw at his head.

"I can still run you through a few of my training exercises for old times sake." she said with a wicked gleam and was rewarded with an instinctual flinch from her former pupil. "Still got it." she murmured with satisfaction as she leaned back on her chair.

Dino coughed into his fist, hiding his chuckle, before he turned to Tsuna, an understanding look in his eyes.

"I know you are suspicious, it's understandable given what happened to you, but please remember you are not alone. Both Lal and I care about you, we are your allies in this, but most importantly we are your friends." Tsuna opened his mouth to say something, but he closed it just as soon, shoulders slumping as he had to agree with Dino's words. He had enough self-criticism to know he was acting like the whole world was against him. And that may be partly true since the vongola's influence could reach almost anywhere, neither Dino nor Lal gave any real reason to doubt them. He gave a small, but thankful smile to both of them."Now I know we have a lot to talk about, but before we go to grim topics, why don't you tell us about your new school? How do you like it there, have you made any friends?" he asked and seemed pretty interested in the topic, though Lal was anything but that. The Cavallone boss thought that they needed some easy topic to break the ice.

Tsuna instantly narrowed his eyes at his words, feeling something foreboding behind them. As far as he knew, Dino was not one for small talk, if there was something serious to discuss, he wouldn't waste time, preferring not to delay. That worried him, things must have been really not looking good in the mafia if he hesitated to bring up that topic.

"Sure." he said with just a hint of hesitation, forcing himself to adapt a light tone of voice and paste a painfully fake smile on his face."I accidentally got enrolled in a school for monsters, where the goal is to coexist with humanity, even though if they learn of any humans wandering on campus they execute them, but despite that, it's quite fun actually. I befriended an ordinary guy, who like me ended up there despite being human, a cute vampire with a split personality who regularly drinks my blood, a succubus who is desperate to get into the other human's pants, a perverted werewolf upperclassman, and a little witch genius who adopted me as her older brother. We make up the newspaper club of our school, and usually end up attacked at least once a week by some idiot." he said, and despite his attitude, he was watching the two of them closely for any reaction.

If the situation itself was not serious, it would have been hilarious. Dino who just happened to bite into an apple began choking, prompting one of his men to run over to him to try and help him cough out, while Lal simply clenched her fist, breaking the cup she was holding into pieces. Both of them gone pale, but thankfully Dino was alright and his subordinate left with a nod to them. It left both of them looking at Tsuna, demanding answers.

"Sawada! What have you gotten into?" the former military sniper demanded angrily. In response, the former mafioso gave a tired sigh and leaned back on his chair as he ran a hand through his hair.

"I would have liked better if you thought I made a horrible joke." he said before giving them a serious look. "How much involvement does the youkai have with the mafia?" he asked. It would help him a lot to know how much the omerta can cover in this situation.

Lal and Dino shared a look before the cavallone boss started to explain, losing much of his earlier cheer.

"Only the upper echelons of the mafia aware of the world of youkai, hidden away from ordinary humans. The involvement is minimal, the two groups tend to stay out of each other's ways, but there are still some overlaps. There are a few families that do business with them and vice versa. There are very few monsters who joined the mafia, though most of them hide their 'abilities' as best as they could since most of the mafia are still unaware of their existence. Similarly, there are hitmen and the like who work for monsters, or work exclusively in their world."

"Though, like the mafia, there is not just one faction at their side of the world." said Lal, looking over Dino."Mainly, you could separate them into 3 factions. One is the 3 dark lord faction. They follow the direction and teaching of the so-called 3 dark lords, who for some reason are hailed as the strongest monsters ever lived or something like that. They preach coexistence with humans but as far as I know, the 3 dark lords retired centuries ago. Or died. Not sure about that" she said, surprising both Tsuna and Dino with how much she knew.

"You sure do know your stuff." Tsuna commented with a grin, a little impressed. Though in retrospect he shouldn't be. Lal, despite some calling her a 'failure' was still an arcobaleno same as Reborn, and worked for what was basically Vongola's spy division.

"I hope neither of you forgot, but there was a reason the arcobaleno are called the seven strongest babies. Even though I am not one officially, the eight of us had more contact with youkai than most." explained Lal with a harumph, before continuing her explanation."The second faction is the so-called neutrals. They are content in ignoring humans as a whole, leaving peacefully in their separated worlds. We have more or less cordial relations with these two factions. The last is a scattered faction, without any union between them. Those are the ones who want to slaughter humans, to live without any restrictions. Thankfully the dark lords' faction keeps most of them in check. And if monsters try to rampage where the mafia is concerned, the vindice would intervene if they didn't have an in with a mafia family. If they had it falls to that family to bring order or suffer the consequences. That's the short story."

"Good to know." he was not so naive to think there were no problems in the youkai world, but from what he saw in the school, Tsuna was unprepared to the whole extent of it. He hummed in thought, thinking about looking into the 3 dark lords. It sounded interesting to learn about, it sounded as they were their version of vongola primo or something along those lines.

"Still, it isn't safe at all." Dino said, a hand on his chin. "I only knew about their existence, save for a few tidbits, since the cavallone doesn't have any contact with them. I think you should leave that school, Tsuna." he said, turning to his little brother, who instantly shook his head.

"Not possible." he denied instantly."Do you think I ended up there as a coincidence? Along with another human to boot? The headmaster, whoever he is, is aware of who I am and doubt that he will accept a simple letter of resignation. He obviously had something planned that involves me, and the easiest way to avoid whatever trap he may have for me is to walk into it." a grimace appeared on his face."Face it, without the vongola name I'm at a serious disadvantage. It's better I play by his rules, for now."

"I don't like it." countered Dino instantly, a frown on his face."It's dangerous, we have no idea what motives they may have or what they wanted with you. It would be best to-" he began to say, but Lal quickly cut him off.

"Forget it, Sawada is right." she said, giving her former student an approving nod."If he plays by their rules and knows what to expect he could avoid whatever is planned for him. As far as I know that school is under the 3 dark lords faction and out of all the youkai they have the most contact and connections with the mafia, so it's wise not to make them enemies unless it's necessary. Also, with him in that isolated school, he could be safe and protected in case what we fear happens." she added, looking at the Cavallone boss pointedly, making the young man hold his hands up in defense.

Tsuna gained a light frown as he tapped his fingers on the table at Lal's words. Whatever was going on, must be pretty serious. He understood why he might be in danger. Despite being passed over as Vongola Decimo, he still was one of Primo's descendants, as well as a person who had various connections to many high-ranking mafioso.

"Well, now the cat's out of the bag." he said softly, gaining Dino's and Lal's attention."What's going on that has both of you so worried?" He gave both of them a serious look, daring them to lie to him. They did not say it, but his stare reminded them of the old Vongola Nono whenever he needed to make his authority known.

"It's a long story, Tsuna." Dino said, at last, withholding a sigh. He looked tired, now that Tsuna looked closer to him. Worn, like it was weeks since he last slept without worry.

"I have time." he answered, raising an eyebrow. "I also have the feeling that quite a lot of things are connected, so it's better to get a clear picture." his older brother nodded at that, not able to refute him.

"Basically, the mafia is on the brink of a bloody civil war." Lal spoke up, looking Tsuna in the eye. "Ever since the inheritance ceremony, where Massino' she hissed the name with an angry expression and Tsuna would never admit, but it was touching." for all intents and purposes took over from Nono, everything changed. I would not dare to call the mafia peaceful, but before, during most of Nono's reign, there was a tentative stillness. There were no overt takeovers, violence was on a much smaller scale, it was as close to peace as we can get. Yet, now it looks like it's only a question of time before a lot of blood will be spilled." she said with a solemn expression.

"What do you mean?" Tsuna asked back, confusion in his voice. He went through a couple of rough and violent adventures himself, namely the trip into the future and Reborn also made him study the past of the mafia, and it was pretty bloody itself. But what Lal was talking about was much larger in scale, possibly worldwide. Just what happened in a few months?

"Well," Dino began to talk, taking over for Lal. "until now, for the last few generations while Vongola was the strongest mafia family, it was not without any possible opposition. Aside from the triads and the yakuza who had varying degrees of connections to the mafiosos in Italy, the vongola was not the undisputed strongest, at least on the outside."

"I knew about that, Reborn's lessons were nothing but thorough," Tsuna commented, nodding to himself. Reborn did not leave anything out when he taught him about this topic. The Vongola wisely didn't control anything. There was a valid point to the existence of the vongola alliance. Instead of conquering other famiglias, they made deals with others, while seemingly isolated others. As his tutor explained, it would have others openly and ruthlessly oppose them, feeling if they had nothing left to use. Instead, the Vongola ruled from the shadows, ensuring some families' loyalty through treaties, bribing and blackmailing others, leaving a scattered opposition that was there but not able to do anything. It was ingenious and mostly the work of Vongola Secondo and Terzo, to ensure the superiority of the Vongola.

There was a reason that the position of the Vongola Boss was so coveted. Respected by the mafia, triad, and yakuza alike, with the might of the vongola alliance at their beck and call, connections through the underworld, military and civilian sector with assassination squads like the Varia and intelligence organizations like the CEDEF able to reach where simply the name Vongola couldn't go farther. The Kingpin of the criminal world.

"But that's completely changed overnight." said Dino, handing Tsuna a few documents. He only briefly skimmed through them, to catch any name that would ring a bell, before looking back to Dino, a hard stare in his eyes. He didn't like what he found."Several famiglias suffered heavy losses out of nowhere, while other, disgraced famiglias got invited to the new decimo's inner circle. I also had my men make some discreet investigations, finding that Massino was getting heavily involved with the drug and prostitute markets, something all other vongola bosses avoided before him." seeing the unbelieving look on Tsuna's face he elaborated."Though the vongola always oversaw these markets, since they are a source of huge income, it was always the Vongola stance to heavily control, to avoid things like mistreatments of the women or raving addicts. Massino seemed to decide to go in the opposite direction."

"Several people who tried to oppose him ended up in incidents or just plain dead. He's not very subtle about that. It's like he wants the whole world to know that Massino Vongola is here and on the rise." Lal said, grumbling to herself."The last time the vongola was this aggressive was during secondo's rise of power and a lot of famiglias are being wary. There are rumors, comparing him to Secondo and you to Primo, saying it will be another bloody chapter of the vongola's history." Tsuna scoffed as he heard this and her expression told the same."Still, he alienated a lot of allies with this, even the Cavallone are trying to distance themselves." she added with a smirk, nodding to Dino who looked a little uncomfortable.

"How can Nono allow that?" Tsuna asked with narrowed eyes. He may not have a lot of flattering feelings about the old man, but according to what he knew he always belonged to the more moderate mafiosos. This unsubtle behavior was not something he would condone, he was a much sneakier, back-stabbing type who would make everyone think that you were the heir, only to rip everything you held dear away from you, revealing he never cared about you and only used you as a convenient bait.

Okay, admittedly, he kind of held a very big grudge against the old man and other involved parties. Sue him.

"Officially, old Timoteo is still the one leading the vongola, though he has been slowly begun delegating duties to the heir, Massino." Dino took over, an uneasy grimace on his face at the mention of Massino."His age and the worsening condition of his legs forced him to a wheelchair and he retreated to his summer retreat, which conveniently only the heir and the external advisor know the location of. In truth with Iemitsu providing reports and advice, it is Massino who leads the Vongola with Timoteo acting as an advisor and mentor. Because he isn't showing himself to the public, we have no idea if he has any idea of the full extent of what Massino is doing or if he supports it at all."

"I see." Tsuna hummed in thought."What else happened?" he quirked an eyebrow at their surprised expressions and elaborated."Don't give me that look. It sounds bad but only this much isn't enough to bring the mafia on the brink of war so soon."

"Sharp as ever." Lal snickered to herself with a proud expression on her face."You are right. We have no idea if it is connected to Massino, but several people disappeared during the last few months." at this Dino handed another document to him, that he took with a brisk nod."Some cases show signs of struggle while others appear as if the person in question was simply spirited away. We have yet to find some connection between them."

He looked over the names and relevant information on the missing people. It was a little more than fifty people and the sheer amount was worrying. Some were rank and file mafiosos, at first glance nothing important about them, those may be explained as nothing really serious since they were talking about the mafia. But others he recognized, like Naito Longchamp from the Tomaso Famiglia, Scorpion Bianchi, Lancia, and Visconti, Nono's cloud Guardian. He also noticed something alarming, a few of Byakuran subordinates from the future also disappeared like Genkishi and Glo Xinia. But the real shock was at the end of the list.

"Wait, Uni is missing?" he cried out in shock. After quick mental math in his head, he remembered Uni should be around 4 years old now, living with her mother Aria who's health was not looking good the last time he saw her after the inheritance ceremony, free of the mafia. He read further, his eyebrows rising."Aria and Gamma too?"

"Yes, though we believe it is deliberate in this case." said Dino, gaining a questioning look from his little brother."They went off the grid not long after the first disappearances happened, though when I talked about it with Reborn he didn't seem overly concerned before he went off to investigate on his own. I looked into it and while the Giglio Nero seems to be worried and trying to find them, it more of a token effort than anything."

"It seems logical, what with Aria's health problem and the need to slowly induce Uni to the mafia to be ready her for her role of sky arcobaleno." said Lal, looking just as relieved by the knowledge of Uni being safe as Tsuna."Hide away for a while, so they can prepare in peace."

Though it left a sour taste in his mouth, the thought of Uni being involved with the mafia at a young age, especially when he thought of the Uni he met in the future instead of the bright, happy girl who took an instant liking to him when Reborn dragged to him to meet her and Aria. Still, at least she was safe and for now, that's all that mattered.

"There's more." Lal spoke up, a grim expression on her face."A few other people also disappeared who aren't on the list for security reasons. Those most notably include Reborn and Byakuran."

"Bykauran?" he leaned forward, eyes wide in shock. Instantly, his mind jumped back to the future where he fought the wearer of the mare ring who was intent on conquering the world. He knew his present counterpart was heavily monitored by the Vongola in case he tries anything, but as far as he was aware, the other man didn't seem to have any intention of once again creating millefiore and waging war against the Vongola and the world. He wasn't even sure if he even unlocked the ability to see parallel worlds."How did this happen?"

"No idea, he just disappeared as if he was never there in front of his watchers." answered Lal with an irked expression since it was the cedef who mainly kept their eye on that particular sky."The Vongola is obviously keeping quiet about it, but Cedef is trying to find him, keeping a close eye on all of his future subordinates, particularly the real funeral wreaths. Unfortunately, we have yet to find any leads."

"Sounds terrific." grumbled to himself the former mafioso, before looking at Dino with a raised eyebrow. "I assume that was what Reborn went out to investigate." he said as his mind quickly went through the clues his former tutor left for him.

"That's what I thought, but I am not certain. You know as well how secretive Reborn is. All we know that it's been almost a month since he last made a contact with anyone and none of the usual ways we could reach him worked." explained Dino with a troubled expression."What's most worrying is that he is usually very prepared. He didn't even leave behind anything to indicate what he was working."

"That's not exactly true." Tsuna cut him off with a small grin. Both of them looked at him in question, prompting him to explain."Not long after the start of the school year, Lambo showed up with a bag full of my stuff, saying Reborn sent them to me. At first, I thought nothing of it, since it only contained things like my gloves, dying will pill, and the like. But there was more to it. First, there was a note with the words Remember Kokuyo on it." he said, earning a surprised look from Dino, while Lal immediately began to ponder its meaning.

"Kokuyo? Does he mean your clash against Mukuro and his gang?" she asked out loud."Is Mukuro behind this?"

"It could mean a lot of things." Tsuna argued, leaning back on his chair. "But the more important thing is this." with that, he held out the memory card Reborn left it. "He left it inside the charm Kyoko made me, one I remember throwing into a river. It's encrypted, so no idea what is on it. And knowing Reborn it would be no small easy feat to decrypt it." he said as he placed down the card, both Dino and Lal looking at it with completive expressions.

"That's Reborn for you." said Dino with a small grin."It makes sense. Most people wouldn't think of you when they think of who would Reborn contact in case of an emergency. No offense." Tsuna shrugged his shoulders, showing he was not offended."I'll have a few of my men see what we can learn from it."

"Forget it, I could use Cedef's resources and we would have it cracked open in no time. Worst case scenario, I talk with Verde." Lal objected as she held out a hand for the memory card, but he only flipped it over his hand.

"I'd rather not." Tsuna said, shaking his head."No offense to you Lal, but I don't trust anyone at Cedef right now, save for you and we don't want anyone to get a look at the files on it. Verde is also too high profile, if we don't want whoever is after Reborn to catch onto us, we need to avoid tipping our hand. Thankfully, I know who to ask." his words caused both Dino and Lal to raise an eyebrow in curiosity.

"He does make a good point." Dino said, conceding the point."Who do you have in mind?"

"There was a phone number with the card. It was Gokudera's." Tsuna tossed the card to Dino who caught it with a blink. "I asked him to visit you in a few days, please give it to him. I'm pretty sure it was designed to be decrypted by him, and this was the best way I could think of getting it to him." he explained as leaned back, his face impassive, not showing any emotions.

"Your storm guardian, Gokudera Hayato? It's not a bad idea." Lal said thoughtfully. She pulled down her visor to her eyes and a few images flew by through it, too fast for Tsuna to see anything."After the inheritance family he went around Italy, visiting a lot of former allies of yours, but soon fell off the grid, the cedef losing his trail several times. It was not a priority to observe him, still, we have no idea what he was doing."

"Knowing Reborn, he had kept tabs on Gokudera." said Dino, mulling over the thought. "It' true that despite his usual temperament, he is a genius and I'm sure Reborn is completely aware of how his mind works. All right." he said, pocketing the card into an inner pocket. "I'll give it to him. It's best not to show our hand too soon and avoid alerting whoever is behind all of this. But Tsuna," he turned toward his pseudo little brother with a worried look."How do you truly feel, involving one of your former guardians?"

"Pass." he replied with a stony face before his will apparently run out and he slumped forward tiredly."Don't know. Don't want to think about it." he said, looking up and meeting Dino's eyes. He was tired, his mind was whirling around furiously at the things he has yet to properly process. "I have a lot going on right now, I'm simply not in the correct frame of mind to think about it. When things settle down a little I can answer that, not now. What else do you have for me?" he asked, trying to change the subject.

"Shamal." Dino said, a frown appearing on his face. "I tried to find him, but when we got to his last known location we found it in ruins. No idea if it is connected to the other disappearances, but he is gone, we couldn't find him. I'm sorry." he added sincerely.

"I see." Tsuna replied just a bit too calm, trying to hide the turmoil that went through him. But no matter how many emotions ran through him in the span of a second, he had to remain calm and find a solution. He felt responsible for Tsukune, no, he was responsible for the situation he was in. And he would be damned if he didn't find a way out of this mess. "It's kind of a big coincidence that Shamal disappears just when I'm in serious need of his help." he added with a thoughtful frown.

"I doubt it's that." Lal disagreed, shaking her head."Trident Shamal has a lot of enemies and he has a vast array of skills that could be useful for anyone for several reasons. There are too many possible reasons for his disappearance."

"Still, we shouldn't exclude the possibility just because it's far-fetched." objected Dino, a thoughtful frown on his face."It's pretty obvious that a lot of things somehow boil down to the Vongola and well, you." he said apologetically, but Tsuna simply shrugged it off, before the older man gained a worried look."Are you alright? What did you need Shamal's help for?"

Tsuna was silent for a moment, debating with himself how much to tell them. It was pretty clear that he trusted them, he wouldn't be here otherwise, but honestly, the inheritance ceremony and its aftermath left him with a lot of emotional scars. Still, after a long moment, he began to explain.

"Wel, first off, since the inheritance ceremony I lost the ability to use my sky flames and go into hyper dying will mode." he admitted and he noted both Lal's shocked gasp and Dino's never changing expression. He was not very surprised about this. It was just like Reborn, who was aware of his condition to inform his other student so he could keep an eye out for him if he was not able. That crafty tutor from hell.

"You don't have access to your flames? And you went to a school filled with monsters?" asked Lal, outraged at his apparent stupidity."What were you thinking?"

"It was pretty dicey a few times, but I made it work." he admitted with forced nonchalance, though inwardly he winced at what he had to tell them. "Thing is, there's another human in the school, Tsukune and I sort of ended up looking after him, one thing led to another and had to use the dying will bullet on him a few times." he forced himself to look at Dino who only wore an expression of silent reprehension, instead of Lal, whos glare he could easily feel on his person. "The problem is, he is an unlucky kid, so Ihaveuseduptenbulletssoheprobablywillcatchtheskulldisease." he mumbled out under his breath, aware of the impending explosion.

"I didn't catch that. What was that?" Lal asked with a dangerous edge to her voice, making Tsuna reflexively lean back on his chair. He knew from experience that making Lal angry never boded well for him.

"I may have used ten bullets on him, well nine bullets and one pill and he probably will catch the skull disease and die in a few days if I don't think of something quickly." he admitted, ready for the ensuring scolding, but even he was caught off-guard when he found the small arcobaleno suddenly standing in front of him on the table, grabbing his collar and began to shake up furiously.

"What were you thinking you stupid idiot!" she demanded as she began to throw him around like a ragdoll, much to Tsuna's shock. Sometimes he forgot that she was just like Reborn in so many ways."You used the dying will bullet on a civilian! What would have done if the Vendice came to take you because breaking Omerta? You were lucky the monster world is a literal gray area. But you had to go even further, you reckless, unthinking idiot! Ten bullets? Why the hell would you use all of those bullets if you were aware of the consequences?" by the end Tsuna's eyes were swirling wildly, he was at the edge of losing consciousness.

"Calm down, Lal Mirch." as always, Dino remained cool and tried to keep things peaceful."I'm sure Tsuna is aware of how recklessly acted, but it's no use beating him up over it. I will have some of my men look into how we can acquire the opposite of skull disease to save him, but it will help no one if you beat him up." he then made in Tsuna's humble opinion one of the most dangerous things in the world and grabbed the chibi by the collar of her cloak, holding her up and away from Tsuna.

Predictably, that simple act transferred her ire to Dino, so Lal began to kick, punch and even bite the poor cavallone boss everywhere she could even as he tried to keep his grip on her collar. None of his nearby men were brave enough to come and help him. Tsuna meanwhile looked up at the admittedly funny scene, still dazed and unfortunately couldn't stop the words from coming out in time.

"Huh, if we could film this, we could sell it to Colonello for a lot of money." he noted absentmindedly, before sheer survival instinct forced him to duck down below the table, just a moment before 3 bullets went through the place where his head was a moment ago.

Cautiously he peeked out from under the table, meeting the sight of Lal pointing her gun at him with a furious expression. Dino no longer had his hands on her but sat there with hands held up in surrender.

"Care to repeat what you just said?" she demanded in an angry voice, prompting him to furiously shake his head. She glared at him for a very long minute before she gave a sigh and put away her weapon, walking back to her seat. Both males let out a very audible sigh of relief, before returning to their seats properly.

"Tsuna." Dino said softly, the younger teen turning to him in question."If you accept one advice from your older brother, it's not wise to make a woman angry at you, especially those who can back it up." in response he nodded his head, the inner side of Moka coming to mind almost instantly.

"Damn right." Lal hissed out as she refilled her teacup. Apparently, she heard them.

"Anyway," Dino once again spoke up, when he said that Lal calmed down for the most part."I don't have to tell you how reckless it was that of you since it's clear that you already understood that. Still, without Shamal, it will be a little harder but I will have my men reach out to a few of my contracts. The largest obstacle is the time." as if on command Romario stepped into the room and went to his Boss's side. After given instructions, he quickly left, already in the middle of making a call."Now, was there anything else you wanted to talk about?"

"Well, I have one last option I could look into." Tsuna said, thinking about the invitation he received a few weeks ago. "But there is something else." he looked at both of them carefully, his face void of emotion, but his eyes still betrayed how uneasy he felt. It took a long moment until he finally decided to speak up, shocking both of them with two simple words."I'm dying."

"Sawada! What are you joking about-" Lal immediately snapped at him, before Dino silenced her with a simple gesture, before piercing Tsuna with a surprisingly cold gaze. Gone was the smiling older brother figure and sat there the boss of the cavallone family, the third strongest in the vongola alliance.

"Now, now. I doubt Tsuna would ever joke about something like this." he smiled, but there was no denying the cold edge it had, promising retribution if it turned out to be anything but serious. "Tsuna, what happened?" he asked turning to the silent teenager.

Tsuna simply sat there, looking down on the table, deep in thought with a small frown on his face. He didn't mean that to slip out, he never intended to say anything about that, convinced that they could be no help to him. He noticed his right hand shaking, so he clenched his fist, cursing himself to this show of weakness.

But he also had to admit, he had no other options. There was no Reborn miraculously appearing with a cure, no technique that he had to master to get better and no Vongola related power-up to solve things. He was alone, without much support save for the two people here. He leaned back on his chair tiredly, running a hand through his hair before looking at them.

"Whatever happening is related to my flames. I can feel them, beneath my skin, but I am unable to release them. It's as if a dam was about to break, I feel as if my flames are destroying my body." he admitted, trying to find the correct words for what was going on with him."It's as if my blood is on fire, what's worse it's even affecting my temper."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Lal after she calmed down a little and tried to remain objective. It worked more or less.

"All of us are perfectly aware that I am a mass of traumas and emotional baggage waiting to explode." he admitted with a straight face."Ever since the inheritance ceremony, my temper was a lot more haywire and I thought it was because of what happened, but whenever I lose my temper the feeling of being boiled alive just strengthens, so it is a safe bet that anger could shorten whatever time I have left."

"You should have told us a lot sooner." Dino shouted angrily, losing his cool for a moment. He took a big breath to calm down, before turning to Tsuna."How are you holding up?"

"For all intents and purposes I should be dead already." he answered back a little flippantly, absently rubbing his neck where Moka usually bites him."My body probably would have already failed if I hadn't discovered that a vampire sucking my blood regularly could keep the symptoms down. I'm alright for the most part, the worst things are bouts of tiredness or simple irritability."

"And soon not even that. Now that we know, we could help you." finished his older brother for him, his mind already thinking up what they could do."Shamal may be one of the best doctors in the mafia, but he is not the only one. I can reach out to every one of them that I have something on. I will have them brought here to Japan and ready the best medical facilities to make sure you are alright. Then they can look into making a cure-" he began to say before Lal quickly cut him off.

"And will end up finding out nothing." she objected, making both Tsuna and Dino look over."There is a reason why the Vongola stands above most families. A large part of it is the access and, knowledge regarding dying will flames. Most other families' knowledge is vague, gappy, and based on theory. I doubt you could find anyone who could come up with anything without contacting Vongola, which I'm pretty sure we want to do if we want to cure Tsuna of this flame-based poison." she explained to them.

"Are you sure it is poison?" asked Dino with narrowed eyes."Couldn't it be a disease that only affects flames?"

"No, that's the same conclusion I arrived at." disagreed Tsuna with a thoughtful look on his face."It's the most logical assumption, especially if we think about the timing."

"Precisely." Lal said, giving him an approving nod."Think about it. After the inheritance ceremony, Tsuna lost his free access to his flames then he develops this condition which could have already killed him if not for unique circumstances." she said, not quite sure what to think of the whole vampire drinking his blood daily thing just yet."He is the descendant of Vongola Primo and the only other contender for the title of Decimo to Massino. And despite being declared the heir, his position is still shaky enough especially with recent happenings for him to fear Tsuna."

"That actually makes sense. Too much for me to like it." Dino admitted though he looked quite disturbed by it."So we need to find somebody who is an expert on dying will flame and not tied to the Vongola at least not too close to the current administration." he summarized."What about the arcobaleno Verde."

"I would leave him as a last resort. He might be an expert at flame related tech and have more than a rudimentary understanding of the human mind, Verde is more of a typical mad scientist. I wouldn't leave Tsuna's health to him until we have no other choice." Lal disagreed instantly.

"I want to live." Tsuna spoke up solemnly, not looking at either of them but at the ceiling. His eyes were far away."If you asked me a few months ago I wouldn't have cared either way. I had no place in the world, I was lost and I just went through the motions. But it's different now." he lowered his head, meeting Lal's and Dino's worried eyes. His eyes brimmed with determination and resolution. A light orange color coated his otherwise brown eyes, surprising both adults."For the first time in a long while when I wake up, I'm not expecting Reborn to pop out of somewhere to torture me with some made-up Vongola tradition only to realize that there's no Reborn and I'm alone after my guardians, my friends left me behind. I'm not even sure what to think of them anymore. Lambo is still with me, being his annoying self, while Gokudera sounded so genuine when we spoke on phone. Was I wrong about the others too?"He gave a loud sigh, feeling drained from admitting this."I've made new friends, strange, sometimes bizarre friends. I found the will to live again, to start walking forward instead of looking behind, lamenting what I lost. I won't give up so easily." he declared to them.

"I'm glad to hear it, Tsuna." Dino agreed with a soft smile. "We will help you, you won't have to face this alone." he promised, prompting Lal to nod, though she seemed a bit unease at them expressing so much feeling. This just wasn't how the mafia worked, usually.

"You have something in mind?" she asked with narrowed eyes, prompting Tsuna to gave her a small smile.

"I'm not ready to roll away and die just yet, so let's try out every possible option." he muttered as he pulled a small card out of his pocket and placed it on the table, in front of Dino."I was given this business card a few weeks ago. Do you know anything about the place?"

"Treasures of the seven world?" he read out loud before his eyes widened along with Lal as the meaning of the words reached them."How did you get this?"

"This place is the black market of black markets. If you are someone in the mafia, this is the place where you want to reach someday. Its location changes periodically and even if you knew the location, without a precise invitation you could never find it. All sorts of people tried before from simple grunts to bosses themselves. Yet none of them were successful, some even dying in the process." just like Dino, Lal was also in a state of shock."And you said you were simply given one?"

"Yes. A girl showed up at school, a human and a powerful mist user at that. She said that her mistress would like to meet me. For some reason she used the title Decimo when referring to me." he explained, before he narrowed his eyes, remembering one particular detail."What's more, she specifically told me their shop has the angel disease."

"The merchant of truth is said to use a collection of young girls with very strong flames to carry out messages." Lal mused, deep in thought."Still, it's strange, people rarely got invited to her shop, even of the arcobaleno only Reborn and Viper got an invite to one visit. What's even more strange she doesn't ask for money. She asks for sometimes random things, sentimental or even simple junk. No one understands why she asks for certain things, but all agreed she holds up her end of the bargain if the asked compensation is delivered."

"That person almost literally stands in the grey area between the criminal underworld and the world of monsters." Dino took over."She has deep connections with the mafia, the triads, the yakuza, but she also has frequent contact with the three dark lords fraction, and if the rumors are believed she also supplies the so-called rogues of the monster side though there' no evidence of that. She is also said to be over a thousand years old. You can say she invented the black market." he said in the end with a rueful chuckle.

"So that my only choice." Tsuna said quietly, standing up from the table. "Then I guess it's time to meet the mysterious merchant of truth." before he could go far, Dino was at his side, grabbing his shoulder.

"Not so fast Tsuna." he smiled at his younger brother, though for some reason a shiver ran through Tsuna."If you are gonna meet such a prestigious member of the mafia, you better look the part. Also, we have to get through a quick lesson so you wouldn't do anything embarrassing."

"I'll pass." he tried to get out of his grip, but the boss of cavallone held on to him with an iron grip, his cold smile promising pain."You are got to be kidding me." Tsuna muttered sourly even as Lal began to laugh to herself.

-0-

"I feel stupid." Tsuna muttered with a sullen frown on his face as he tugged on the orange tie around his neck, trying to loosen it, before Romario who sat in front of him leaned forward, gently slapping away his hands and began to set the tie properly.

They were sitting in an expensive limo, with Dino sitting next to Tsuna and Lal facing the tenth generation boss of the cavallone. Aside from Romario, one of Dino's men was driving the limo, while there were three black cars following them, full of his subordinates. Talk about paranoid.

Just like Dino and Romario, Tsuna was wearing a very expensive looking tuxedo, complete with an orange tie, giving him the look of a proper mafioso. It was uncomfortable, it reminded him too much of the one he wore at the inheritance ceremony at Reborn's insistence. At least, Dino was gracious enough to not put the symbol of Vongola on it, instead, the small cavallone crest was sewed on the collar, to show his support without being overly dramatic.

It was a little shocker that Dino brought with him a tailor who exclusively worked with dying will flame-resistant material and his older brother had him measured and soon the tailor with his team went to work. Amazingly, by the time lunch was over they had the whole outfit ready, complete with a small hat similar to reborn with an orange stripe and black dress shoes that looked more expensive than the house he lived with his mother and the others.

The time until then was spent with Dino and Lal Mirch drilling him how to act when he arrived, though he found little point to the whole thing. They also just talked, staying away from serious topics, letting him relax and think of the times where everything was easier and he did not need to look over his shoulder constantly.

"Please, Tsunayoshi-dono, don't ruin your clothes. As they say, first impressions could make or break a deal and we want you to have a most desirable outcome of your impending meeting." scolded Romario gently as he fixed his tie and leaned back on his seat.

"Can't help it. I just don't see the point of all of these posturings." he muttered as he looked away, prompting a chuckle out of Dino who until now was silent, deep in thought.

"Now, don't say that. I thought Reborn taught you better." his smile widened as a visible shiver through Tsuna, before he looked out the window."We are here." he announced just as the limo stopped.

Following his lead, Tsuna also looked out, though he only saw a busy street in the middle of Tokyo. He strained his eyes, but he didn't spot anything extraordinary, nothing screaming secret mafia shop or anything like that. Turning back to Dino, he raised an eyebrow in question.

"According to the address, it' just down the road." explained Dino."But you are the only one who was invited, so to avoid making the wrong impression I thought it would be better to drop you off here." Tsuna nodded in silent agreement and went to step out of the car but before he closed the door behind him his brother once again spoke up."Please be polite Tsuna and watch your temper." he warned."Don't forget that your friend's life hangs on your success. When you finish, call me and we will pick you up until then we stay in the area."

"Don't worry about it so much, I know what to do. I will be back before you know it." he promised with a small smile.

"Sawada." Lal, who until now was silent spoke up suddenly before he could close the door behind him. She looked at a loss for words but after a moment she continued."Don't do anything foolish."

Tsuna only smiled at her, remembering her inability to wish her students good luck, before giving a careless salute, much to her annoyance, and closed the door behind him. He looked after them a long moment as the limo drove away, the 3 black cars faithfully behind, though he caught Dino's men nodding respectfully to him.

Despite being early afternoon, before school ended, the street was full of people, many of them his age, so he didn't stand out very much, save for his attire, which gained a few surprised and confused looks around him.

Pulling out the business card he was given, he quickly checked where he was before he started walking. As he dodged the large mass of moving people, he absentmindedly noted it was a very strange place to have a shop that served exclusively the human underworld and the monster world. It was a busy street, filled with various stores and warehouses.

As he walked around, a little distracted by the sights, Namimori was never this busy after all, he got the sudden urge to look to the side. He did so and he stopped in shock, eyes wide. Between an ordinary convenience store and a hardware store stood something really out of ordinary. First off it was made of wood, but what really set it out from it's surrounding was that it looked like a small Buddhist temple. It even had a small traditional garden surrounding it.

What made the whole thing even more ridiculous that a giant neon sign was hanging from the gate, that even during daylight was shining with the seven colors of the rainbow, proclaiming the temple as the Treasures of the seven world. And for some hard to grasp reason all other people walked past it, not even looking at it.

"I'm not sure, but I think that's the place." he deadpanned to himself with an unimpressed frown."Nice to see the consistent ignorance of subtlety in the mafia shows up here." he mumbled to himself as he purposely began to walk towards it, Natsu giving with a small growl from his ring. "I know buddy, thanks for having my back." he said smiling at his partner.

Tsuna approached the entrance, trying to ignore the weird feeling crawling upon his spine as he walked through a wall of thick mist flames, probably what kept other people from noticing this place. before he could knock, the door opened, the form of a familiar figure appearing in front of him. It was the girl who visited him at school not that long ago.

"Greeting Sawada-dono." she greeted him with a low bow and Tsuna immediately knew something was off about her. "Our Mistress was looking forward to your visit." she informed him as she led him inside, speaking all the while in a humble, respectful way.

Giving her a wary glance, he soon concluded that even though she looked remarkably similar, she wasn't the girl he met before. The differences were subtle, but they were there. She wore the same clothes, though hers had a light blue color and her eyes were similarly light blue instead. She had a slightly more muscular build if he had to guess she was more used to close-combat. The feel from her was also different, instead of the subtle chaotic feeling that he tended to feel around mist users, her whole demeanor was much more calming and in control.

"You have a name that I can call you by, or like your twin, you prefer to remain in silent anonymity?" he asked curiously as she led him through a long corridor. The silence was his only answer, making him sigh to himself."Okay then, anonymous girl in blue."

They walked in silence, through a long straight corridor, that was definitely longer than the dimensions of the small temple would permit, though Tsuna wasn't surprised by it. He long ago let go of any expectation of normalcy, since it seemed his current life didn't permit any semblance of it.

"We arrived Sawada-dono." She spoke up as they finally arrived at a large wooden sliding door. Opening it, she gestured for the former mafioso to enter.

He stepped into a spacious room, looking around in interest. Despite being no visible lighting and no windows, he could see easily. The room was full of various objects. He saw antique weapons hanging from the wall, armors of various eras standing guard, bookcases full of old, worn, and probably priceless books. He saw a clear pacifier hanging from the neck of medieval armor, a stake that had blood dried on it and he even spotted what might be a portrait of Vongola Primo standing with his arms around a shorter man that had short, spiky red hair and red eyes.

But the antique objects are not the only thing filling the room. He also saw machines the like that would leave Spanner and Irie drooling, tubes filled with various chemicals. There was even some kind of robot armor, that bore an increasing familiarity with some of the mangas he read when he was younger. The room gave a sense of containing everything one would desire. Tsuna supposed it was the whole purpose, to entice potential buyers of all that little shop can offer.

After he had a quick look at the room his eyes widened as he noticed the other people in the room. At the other end of the room, there was a lavish desk, filled to the brim with strange trinkets, a few books, and most interestingly, a few cubes that he quickly recognized as box weapons, a technology he only found in the future ruled by Byakuran. As far as he was aware, this technology wasn't even in a research stadium in the current era, so it begged the question of how did they get here.

As he walked forward, he saw someone sitting behind the desk, but most of his attention was diverted by the five girls standing before the said desk. Most importantly the fact that all of them looked like the girl walking behind him.

The first one was the mist user girl he met at his school. She wore the same violet clothes and stared at him with an impassive gaze. She stood at the right side of the desk, hands behind her back. Next to her stood an identical girl, with her clothes bearing the color purple. Her eyes were also purple and though unlike her siblings, her hair seemed a touch more disheveled, something that seemed to be at odds with her impeccable clothes.

On the other side of the table, three girls stood next to each other. The closest to him had green clothes and green eyes, while the one next to her wore a crimson red color, complimenting her red eyes that seemed to subtly glare at him. What raised an eyebrow from him was the last girl, the farthest from him. Her clothes were bright yellow, just like her eyes that seemed to almost literally shine with excitement. Instead of the stoic demeanor by the other girls, she seemed to vibrate in her place, gently rocking back and forth on her heels.

Tsuna narrowed his eyes as he arrived to an uncomfortable suspicion, but the small warming of the ring on his finger, made his shoulder relax slightly. That's right, he was not alone in this.

His attention was pulled toward the woman behind the desk, their so-called Mistress most probably. She was sitting leisurely in her seat, taking her time studying him with her, shockingly enough pure white eyes that seemed older than she appeared. As he got closer he felt as if she was seeing everything that he was and by the small smile on her face she seemed to approve. He honestly wasn't sure if he should be happy about this.

She looked like a slightly older version of the girls that she was surrounded by, with long black hair that fell in waves on her shoulders. She wore a cheongsam similar to what the other girls wore in white, though hers seemed a touch or two more risque, to show off her more mature body. She was resting her head on her right palm as she watched him with an amused smile. She had a silver bracelet on her left hand that interestingly enough had a small cross attached to it.

Despite her misleading looks, Tsuna could feel without even trying to concentrate on it the waves of power rolling off of her, a strange mixture of dying will flames and what he began to call youkai energy. She was strong, far stronger than him at his peak with the vongola ring. She was not one he should make an enemy out of in his current situation.

Tsuna stopped in front of her desk, the rain girl who led him here stepping next to the mist user, the six of them forming some sort of guard. He repressed a snort at that thought, very much aware that with his body in its current condition he would be a very small threat to anyone in the room.  
His posture was relaxed, at least on the outside, though he sincerely doubted that if she was really doing business with the mafia and other criminals for as long as Dino's information implied, she could see through him no problem.

"You are finally here, Decimo-kun." she greeted him kindly as she leaned back on her expensive chair, moving in such a way that her, cough, assets practically tried to force his eyes to move toward them. He ignored the seductive smile on the older woman's eyes, the only proof that he was having a hard time with his hormones were the reddening of his cheeks, as he met her eyes."I was looking forward to meeting you. It's nice to meet you."

"I guess I should say the same." Tsuna answered with a controlled voice, not lowering his guard down even for a minute as he stared at the mysterious merchant of truth. "Though I'm kind of skeptical what would you want from a non-entity like me." he asked, getting to the point, seeing no point beating around the bush.

In response, the woman only blinked once in surprise, before she grabbed a beautifully decorated fan from her desk, unfolded it, and hid her face behind it as she began to laugh loudly. Tsuna tried not to tense too much as he felt a small killing intent around him, the storm, and cloud girls if he had to guess based on what he saw of them and what was typical of their flame type.

"No tact at all, Vongola Decimo-kun." she said as she finally calmed down, folding the small fan and placing it in her lap. Despite her demeanor a moment ago, now she looked genuine and none of that seductive vibe remained. Apparently, he passed some sort of test."Didn't your mentor taught you how to manage political talks?" she asked, though she quickly amended her words with a smile. "Not that I don't find it refreshing. When you get to my age you just lose patience to all those posturings people are so fond of." she said reminiscing.

"But Mistress..." spoke up one of the girls, the one with the hard to mistook feel of storm flames, before she was silenced with a wave of her mistress's hand.

"Well then, Decimo-kun, if you came all this way, the least I could do to be an accomodating host." with another wave of her hand, a chair appeared in front of Tsuna she gestured for him to take a seat. Just as he sat down, Rain as he began to call her in his mind, appeared with a tray of tea in her hands and began to serve it to them."This is our first proper meeting isn't it?" the woman asked, but soon went on, not letting him answer."I go by many names, the mafia is most found of the merchant of truth, a bit pompous, but I was stuck in a phase like that at that time. Please call me Arikura for now." she said as she thanked the tea and took a sip from it.

"If you know anything about me, I'm a terrible student." he answered her earlier question, even as he pondered about the strange name." Why do you insist on calling me Decimo? I'm no longer the Vongola heir." he said, perhaps a little harshly, even as he murmured a soft thank you as he lifted his teacup.

"The title Vongola Decimo defines your character in a way that even if you are no longer the tenth vongola boss, most people will continue to associate that prestigious title with you." she explained and though there was a harsh reply at the tip of his tongue, Tsuna decided to bit it back and drink from his tea instead. It had a sweet taste to it, and despite his paranoid nature he fond himself slightly relaxing."To answer you, the reason I invited you was because I found you interesting."

"Interesting?" he asked back with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm really old you know, Decimo-kun." Arikura answered with a faraway look in her eyes. Tsuna remained silent, waiting for her to elaborate."I saw most things in the world repeat themselves over and over again. It got boring after a few hundred years you know. It's still the same, humans, youkai, all of them crave power, they make alliances, they stab each other in the back then the cycle starts again with those who survived. That's why I only care about those who don't fit the mold, who are able to amuse and interest me." she turned her ageless eyes to him and suddenly he felt her immerse power roll off her in waves. It seemed endless, his breathing became labored as he hunched down, trying to withstand this unbelievable pressure. He tried to gather his flames in feeble hopes that they could help him, but he knew it was useless. He had nothing to stand against her, an ant against a raging hurricane, he was gonna-"That's why I opened the shop." she said, suddenly cheery, her power practically disappearing. Tsuna just panted in his seat, sweat pouring down in his face as he tried to calm his raging heart. Arikura acted obviously to his state as she continued talking."All those I find interesting are get invited here, so I can take a measure of them. If they prove me right, then a trade can be made and I can watch on and amuse myself with what new twist their life and those around them will take." she looked like an excited kid as she began to ramble off the many interesting people she met, before snapping out of it and pointing at him with an eager look on her suddenly much younger looking face. "But out of all of them, currently, I find you the one with the most potential to amuse me." she declared proudly.

"Why is that?" he asked, trying to recover from the feeling of how utterly helpless he was against her.

"Well, you are the descendant of Primo and by my experience, most of his descendants proved to be interesting." when she saw his displeased expression she hid her smile behind her fan and continued."But it's more than that. Despite being a clumsy kid, who had his flames sealed most of his life, in a few years you accomplished so many things that could easily rival most other mafiosos accomplishments in their whole life. You especially impressed me during that whole future debacle. Don't act so shocked," she added with a small smile at his surprised look."I was very much aware of your little war against Byakuran. Truth be told, even I didn't think you could do it, I was debating on either stepping in to help out or just watching things happen, but you surprised me. And I very much like being surprised." she revealed with child-like glee."

"Is that so?" he asked with a small frown on his face.

"Of course that alone wouldn't be enough to interest me. No, the one who really interests me is the current you." she said as she reached forward, grabbing his chin and leaned forward looking deeply into Tsuna's eyes, ignoring how uncomfortable the young teen looked."Everything you knew, everything that made you who you are now, was taken away from you. You saw the true face of the mafia, no the world, and yet here you are. Most other people would have surrendered to the darkness clinging into them, would have become a shadow of themselves, but not you. You may be jaded, paranoid, yet you are still the same young boy who would risk everything for his friends, who would wage war against the world for their happiness. You are still shining with such a beautiful light." she finally let go of him as she reclined back in her chair."Now you are attending that school that contradictory brat Mikogami along with Nyu-chan made in an attempt to make peace between two worlds. It's cute if a little too hopeful for my taste. You and your friend are not even the first humans he roped into attending, you know?" she gave a secretive smile to him as she watched that she piqued his interest."Of course, most of them died or ended with ha fate worse than death, so you are doing comparatively good so far." it took a lot of Tsuna's control to prevent giving out any kind of reaction to her words."And there's an interesting company you keep. Especially that little vampire, did you know that-" she was cut off by Tsuna who gave a small growl.

"I don't care." he said with a hard look in his eyes, prompting Arikura to raise an eyebrow in question.

"You don't? Even if you have no idea what secrets your little girlfriend and her family hold? Aren't you at least a bit curious as, why she had a rosary sealing her powers off? And why she even had two personalities? It's not at all common among youkai." she informed him with an impish smile, looking forward to his answer.

"Of course I want to know." he answered, looking down at his clenched fists. "But, like Moka, I have my secrets. Until I can't answer her questions about me, I have no right to find the answers for my own about her." he declared with a resolute voice.

In response, she gave him an uncharismatically somber smile, before she gave a single clap. After she gave the signal, the cloud girl stepped next to them, holding a small vial with some kind of blue liquid in it that she handed to her Mistress with great care.

"It looks like the time of small talk has ended. Let's began bantering" she said with a serene expression as she gently showed him the small vial."This is what you came for right? The angel disease. I find storing it in a liquid is a much more sophisticated method than the mosquitos of that doctor of yours, but each their own, I guess."

Tsuna stared at the vial, deep in thought. He had no doubt it was a real deal, one thing both Dino and Lal made sure he knew that Arikura's goods were always the real deal, that made it such a big thing to be invited here.

"What do you want in exchange?" he asked quietly at last. He already knew she was not interested in money and he didn't have many other options, something that he was sure she was perfectly aware of.

"So straightforward." she giggled to herself as she once again shielded her face with her fan. "Is that the way you charm that girlfriend of yours?" she seemed to take pity on his red face and soon turned serious, looking him straight in the eye."1 ounce of your blood that's the price."

"My blood?" he asked with narrowed eyes, deep in thought. At first, he didn't see much point to it, but he quickly remembered who he was the descendant of. He carried the blood of Vongola, the requisite to wield the Vongola Sky Ring. He had no idea what use could it be for anyone, but he was no longer naive enough to not expect almost anything from both of these hidden worlds. He cursed in his mind, lamenting the fact that neither Dino nor Lal was with him, he could have used their advice.

Ultimately it all boiled down to either accepting the proposition or reject it. From the looks of it, he doubted she could accept anything else and it was that or let Tsukune die. That was simply not an option. With a sigh, Tsuna quietly nodded with his head, while he pushed back the sleeve on his right arm.

"Alright, take it." he agreed, prompting a large smile from the woman sitting before him as she folded her fan with a cheer.

"Excellent, Tsunayoshi-kun." without a signal, the rain girl stepped next to him, holding a small injection in her hand. Tsuna was not surprised by the small layer of rain flames that surrounded the needle, he didn't feel anything thanks to the tranquility effect of the flame as she took his blood. It was not a very big amount, he still felt a little dizzy as she finished and gave the vial filled with his blood to the waiting hands of Arikura.

"The blood of vongola. So many delicious secrets in such a tiny bottle." she muttered in a revered tone as she examined it before she remembered she still had duties as a host. She placed the vial of blue liquid before Tsuna. "As promised, a dose of angel disease. Please be careful with it. You are already immune to the skull disease so finding a cure for you would be hard." she laughed at her own joke, before adding."Your friend, Tsukune-kun should be alright as soon as you administer this to him.

"Thank you." he said sincerely as he placed the vial in his inner pockets, making sure it was secure, before turning back to Arikura.

"I always love to see a satisfied customer." she boasted with another laugh before she looked serious."Now is there anything else that your heart desires?" she asked as gestured at the many objects inside the room.

Tsuna thought for a long minute. He would have loved to ask if she knew anything about whatever poison was affecting him, or maybe information on Reborn, after all, according to Dino her information network was what Mammon modeled after theirs. Still, he also knew he had very little else he could or would trade away. Also with Tsukune's cure in his hand, his primary objective was completed and it was time to hurry back to school.

"No, but thank you for your hospitality." he answered, at last, lifting and drinking up the last of his tea."It was an interesting visit."

He was only able to stand up before another, stronger dizzy spell hit him, forcing him back to his seat. His head, no his whole felt heavier, sluggish and he felt his mind slowly but surely blackout. He forced his head to look up, into the eyes of Arikura who had something close to pity in her eyes.

"What did you to me?" he hissed out, even though staying conscious was proving to be a challenge in and of itself."Was it in the needle?"

"No, it was in the tea." she answered, honestly, going around her desk and stopping next to him. She crouched down to get to his eye level, before holding up the vial holding his blood, looking very serious."You have a very interesting poison inside your body. It is a poison youkai developed after the mafia discovered dying will flames and made contact with various youkai. It is designed to target people with dying will flames, breaking down their body from inside, by using their flames against themselves." she explained.

"How did you know about this?" he asked, even as black spots appeared in his vision, he was at the edge of losing consciousness.

"It's pretty obvious when you take one look at your blood. Also, you displayed plenty of signs that narrowed down the possible list." she explained and Tsuna felt a hand almost lovingly caress his face."Though thanks to your vampire friend instead of a quick yet painful death you seem to hang onto life by a single thread. The special herbs in your tea will force you into a regenerative sleep, so your body will be in a slightly better state."

"Why?" he ground out, having trouble forming words. In response, Arikura gave a gentle smile as her hands wandered to his hair and began to run her hands through it. It was a soothing feeling, making it harder for him to stay awake.

"I felt like helping. You are interesting to me and I want to see the life you will make, so take it as me helping you along, making sure that you will interest me for as long as you can." she said as she let go of him."But fate's really cruel you know? You have that same heartbreaking face that he had, unknowingly charming ladies and breaking their hearts in the process. You are the same as him, just like when Giotto-kun and Akasha-chan first met." he felt a pair of lips on his forehead before darkness enveloped him."Good luck, Tsunayoshi-kun." she whispered in the end.

-0-

The first thing that Tsuna noticed as he slowly woke up that he felt rested. In the last few weeks, such a phenomenon was impossible to achieve for him. Most times he woke up plagued by nightmares or simply feeling like his body was overheating just by doing nothing. There were days when he only woke up with a feeling of fatigue, a soreness over his body. Those were the days when he felt he could get out of bed.

He slowly opened his eyes, enjoying this feeling of peacefulness before he looked around trying to determine where he was since he didn't remember getting to bed. He was in a large, luxurious room, lying in a large double bed. As he looked around, he noted the sun was still up, so he must not have been sleeping for loud, and the room he was reminded him of the hotel he met Dino and Lal Mirch.

He slowly sat up, letting the blanket placed on his fall to his side as he experimentally moved his body, marveling how effortless it felt. He noticed that his suit and tie were lying on a chair, folded, and also the lack of weight on his right hand. He was scared for a minute, looking around frantically before he caught the sight of Natsu's ring at the bedside table.

Giving a relieved sigh he picked up his partner's ring and put it on, the weight of it calming him down, letting him think rationally.

"Now to find out how I got here." he mumbled to himself, trying to remember what happened. He remembered arriving at the Treasures of the seven worlds, the talk with the mysterious shopkeeper Arikure and the deal he made. His blood for Tsukune's cure. After that, it became a little blurry.

The tea. With a start he jumped out of the bed, looking around frantically. He remembered being knocked out by the tea, Arikura saying something about a regenerative sleep. That didn't explain how he got here.

He was about to further investigate when the door opened and Romario stepped into the room. His eyes widened for a moment when he met the frantic eyes of Tsuna before his expression smoothened out. With a habitual fix of his glasses, he turned around and spoke a few words to a nearby man, before he turned back to the young teen, a relieved smile on his face.

"It's wonderful to see you up Tsunayoshi-kun. We were getting worried about when you will wake up. How are you feeling?" he told the teen as he walked closer, offering help Tsuna picked up his suit and tie.

"Actually I feel good like I got a good night's sleep that I desperately needed. How did I get here Romario?" Tsuna asked as the older man helped him fix his tie. He was relaxed, his intuition confirming he was in no danger and his body felt better than ever before.

"That was actually what we wanted to ask of you." Dino said as he entered the room with Lal following him. He had a worried frown on his face as he looked over his pseudo little brother."We were waiting for you to finish your business, when my men called me, saying you appeared in the hotel room, unconscious. We hurried back, but when we examined you, nothing was wrong. You were just in a very deep sleep." he explained when he caught Tsuna's curious look.

"Do you remember what happened to you?" Lal asked, looking just as worried as Dino. Tsuna felt touched by the care but he was wise enough not to point it out. He liked his head where it was after all.

"Let me think." he said as he sat down at the chair his clothes were on, a hand on his chin. "I've made a deal with the merchant of truth for Tsukune's cure." he said, holding up the small bottle that was in his inner pocket where he put it."There was something in her tea that slowly knocked me out."

"Why would she do that?" Dino asked with narrowed eyes, obviously trying to keep himself calm.

"She seemed to know about the poison in my body." Tsuna revealed much to the others' surprise. He then proceeded to tell what he learner from Arikura. "She told me the herbs in the tea would force me to a regenerative sleep." he added as he clenched and unclenched his fist."Seems to have worked, it's been a while since I felt so good."

"But why would she do this?" Lal wondered out loud."The merchant of truth simply doesn't hand out things just out of the goodness of her heart."

"Who knows?" Tsuna shrugged."But it's no use speculating. Anyway how long was I asleep? Must not have been very long if the sun is still up." he commented, looking out a nearby window. Indeed, the sun was still up, though it was going down steadily. It must be around the late afternoon, he guessed.

Though he raised an eyebrow when Dino got a nervous look in his eyes and Romario discreetly coughed into his fist. In the end, it was Lal who chose to tell him the truth.

"You were asleep for a whole day Sawada." she stated plainly and quickly, like ripping off a band-aid."That's why we were so worried about you."

"What?" he asked in shock, not wanting to believe it. If he slept for a whole day, that meant that even at the best-case scenario Tsukune hardly had a lot of time, until the skull disease ran its course.

"Tsuna? Where are you going?" Dino cried out in surprise when out of nowhere his little brother stormed out of the room, heading for the elevator. He went after him, Lal and Romario following not long after.

"What do you think? I'm going back to the school." answered Tsuna as he let the others pile into the elevator, before sending it to the lobby. "I didn't sell my blood only for that idiot to croak before I can arrive." he stated as he leaned back on one of the walls.

"What do you mean by blood?" Dino stuttered, looking at him in worry."And how do you plan to go to your school at this hour?"

"Knowing that crafty bus driver he will be waiting for us in front of the hotel." he said, completely ignoring the first question. He looked at Dino and Lal an apologetic look in his eyes."Sorry to storm away just like that, but that forced sleep took more than enough time off my hands."

"We understand." Lal said, the calmest out of all of them."Now that we know where you go to school, I'll find something for us to keep in contact and send it to you." she promised. It meant a lot since that meant she had to dodge and trick her comrades back at Cedef.

"Thanks, I'll appreciate it." he said with a small smile, before turning to Dino with a serious expression."But I have a question I would like to ask before I leave."

"What is it?" the boss of the Cavallone family asked back in curiosity.

"I know one person can have affinities to multiple flames. But answer me this, can someone with two different personalities have two different flames that are equal to each other?" he asked a serious glint in his eyes.

"Equal flames?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. Tsuna only had to look at his face to give a smile and turn away from him just as the elevator finally arrived and the doors opened.

"Forget it." he said with a simple shrug as he walked out, heading in the direction of the door.

"Tsuna, wait." Dino called after him as he followed him after a moment of confusion with Lal shaking her head at both of them. Romario only looked at their way with a small smile as they followed Tsuna out of the door.

Just as he stepped out the door, Tsuna immediately stumbled into a person who tried to enter the hotel. Acting on pure instinct, he grabbed onto the person's hand, catching them around their forearm, to stop both of them from crashing into the ground. Thankfully they were stronger than their thin frame suggested because they also gripped into his arm and used their own strength and weight to counter his. Thanks to that, neither of them fell.

"Sorry about this. My bad." he apologized with a genuine smile as he stepped away from the person he ran into, getting a good look at them.

She was a girl who appeared around his age, almost a head shorter than him. She had a pale complexion, a doll-like face, and black eyes that held a cold edge to them. Her ebony black hair was pulled into a low ponytail, complimenting the black sleeveless dress she wore. She had light make up on her face, just enough to highlight her overall cold sense of beauty.

"Don't worry about it, I was in a haste as well." she said with a friendly smile, waving away his apology. It seemed to be in contrast with the two big gorillas in suits standing behind her, who seemed to growl at him.

Despite her friendly demeanor, Tsuna was not fooled. She looked vaguely familiar as if he saw her before, or at least someone resembling more than that, Tsuna's hyper intuition practically screamed at him to get away, stay away from her. She was dangerous, the subtle aura of power was practically rolling off of her, making him wary of her.

She was also aware of it as her smile turned into a cocky smirk just for a moment before her features smoothed out and returned to a friendly one. Tsuna was certain that he was no match for her at his current form, no he doubted that even the version of him who fought Byakuran with the vongola ring could match her. That intense pressure reminded him of Moka's unleashed power.

"Don't let me get in your way." he said in the end in a courteous tone as he stepped away, allowing her to enter the hotel.

"You won't." she said with confidence and for a moment Tsuna could see her eyes change from black to red with slit pupils. Just like a vampire. Then the moment ended and the girl entered the hotel with her bodyguards, leaving Tsuna looking after them with a thoughtful frown.

"Sawada?" Lal spoke up, looking questioningly at him."Is everything alright?"

"Looks like things are getting complicated." he answered cryptically before turning around and spotting the school bus waiting by the road, the bus driver amicably waving to him with his cigar. "My ride is here. Thanks for everything. Stay safe and take care." he said to Dino and Lal with a small, but a true smile on his face.

"That's our line." Dino said with a wry smile before his face sobered. "Tsuna..." he began to say, but he was cut off by Tsuna.

"I know." he gave a final wave before he walked over the bus driver, Nyubari smirking at him ominously.

"Ready to go back to school, boy? Done everything you wanted?" he asked with an eery laugh as the young teen boarded the bus."After all, Youkai Academy is a really scary place."

"Let's just get going already." muttered impatiently Tsuna as he took a seat at the back."I would rather like it if Tsukune didn't die just yet." The bus driver only laughed before getting in as well and soon the two were on their way.

Tsuna remained silent as he watched the landscape slowly change into the long, foreboding tunnel that led to the academy. After a while, he pulled a small white envelope out of the inner pocket of his suit. The words 'to Moka' were written in an elegant script.

"Talk about troublesome." he muttered to himself as he leaned back in his seat and put away the letter."Should have guessed these peaceful days will end sooner or later." he gave a smile as the bus finally exited the tunnel and he spied the distant form of the academy."But then again, I kind of missed this excitement.

-0-

"We are here." Nyubari announced jovially as he parked the bus. It was night, the moon was shining brightly that somehow made the dark forest surrounding the school even creepier. Tsuna had to hold back the smirk on his face as he exited the bus, the school sometimes seemed to go overboard on the creepy scale.

"Thanks for the lift." he thanked the bus driver with a simple wave before he began to walk towards the school. "Wonder what trouble Tsukune got to." he wondered out loud.

"You should head for the infirmary." the bus driver called after him. "I heard your friend got into some trouble with a teacher and has yet to awake. You should hurry though, you don't want to run out of time." he cackled to himself as Tsuna began to sprint toward the school.

'If you die on me Tsukune, I'll revive just so I can kill you myself' Tsuna promised silently in his mind as he ran through the forest and reached the school building in record time.

He only just entered the building that housed the infirmary that still had lights on, when a sudden twin cries of Tsuna-nii caught him off guard. Turning around he only just noticed the two missiles heading towards him before Lambo's and Yukari's relatively small bodies impacted him in the chest and sent him to the ground with two pairs of arms circling around his waist.

"Tsuna-nii! You are finally back. We missed you so much." Yukari declared with a bright smile, happy that her big brother was back. Hearing Yukari, Lambo gained a small bush, before he hastily let go of Tsuna, standing up and turning away from them.

"B-Baka! I didn't miss nii-san, I was perfectly fine by myself. You were the one crying that you missed him." he denied instantly, even as he had tears in his eyes.

"So I came back and got greeted with broken ribs? I feel the love." deadpanned Tsuna as he stood up, dragging Yukari with him as well, who was still clinging to him. It was then he noticed another person there who was watching the scene with barely hidden amusement."What are you doing here Gin?" he asked curiously.

"Someone had to look after the kids." answered the club president with a lazy smirk, ignoring the voices of protest from said kids."After all, with you away and Tsukune being a moronic idiot, someone had to."

"What did he do now?" he asked with a raised eyebrow after Yukari let go of him and stood next to Lambo.

"Besides landing in the infirmary?" then he proceeded to tell Tsuna about the missing girls that the newspaper club was investigating, it later was revealed that the art teacher, Ishigami was behind it, who had Moka captive and Tsukune went to save her, but in the end was almost turned completely into stone because of the teacher's power, but was ultimately defeated.

"Lambo just ran forward with all of that lightning around him and rammed into Ishigami-sensei who was knocked out by that." Yukari told him excitedly, for a change looking like a kid of her age. Lambo was looking away, a bashful blush on his face.

"Is that so?" he raised an eyebrow in question, before giving a pat to the cow boy's head."Good job Lambo." he praised him. He really came far from the annoying little boy who always tried to assassinate Reborn.

"Of course, the amazing Lambo-sama can defeat anybody. Bow before me and bring me lots of candies." the young boy declared with an uppity tone, causing Tsuna to lose the proud smile from his face. It's just regular, bratty, annoying Lambo.

"I see. Was there anything else?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Aside from Tsukune gaining some kind of weird tattoos?" Gin asked back, a searching look on his face. Before Tsuna could answer, Lambo tugged on his suit's sleeve, gaining his attention.

"Tsuna-nii, Tsukune-san has the skull disease just like you did. I don't know when it appeared, but I told the others about it." he admitted, worried about his older brother's reaction. Thankfully he did not need to worry.

"I had a feeling that Tsukune had caught it." he said before patting the boy's head once again."Thank you, Lambo, you did well."

"Of course, I'm great after all." he boasted before Yukari, angered at him for hogging Tsuna's attention sent a washbasin to crash into his head.

"What are you guys doing here anyway?" he asked from Gin as the two younger kids began to squabble among themselves.

"Tsukune still hasn't woken up, but Moka told us tomorrow is his birthday so the kids got the idea to make things ready for a party and I was roped into overseeing things." he said with a shrug before he gained a smirk. "Of course, as soon as Moka sees how good I am with little kids, she should see I am perfect for her." he snapped out of his daydream to see Tsuna calmly walk away from him."Don't ignore me Sawada!" he cried after him, the former mafioso not even bothering with a response.

He walked up to the infirmary, a small smile on his face at the thoughtfulness on the others' part. Truthfully, he forgot about the raven-haired teen's birthday, though he could be excused, he had a lot on his plate the last few days. Mainly keeping said teen alive.

He blinked in surprise when he arrived to the door of the infirmary, finding Kurumu leaning next to the closed door. What surprised him the most was the tears gathering in her eyes.

She didn't notice him as he walked up to her, though he could hear Tsukune's voice clearly from the room. He tended to raise his voice when he got overly emotional, it reminded Tsuna of himself when he began to train under Reborn. Still, he got a gist of it from Tsukune's words to understand the situation.

"Let me guess, Tsukune's confessing to Moka?" he asked with a casual tone, making Kurumu look up in surprise.

"Tsuna-san?" she asked in shock as she hurried to wipe away her tears.

Instead of answering he leaned on the wall, listening to the sounds coming from the infirmary. As he heard the soft voice of Moka, he couldn't help but cringe in sympathy.

"And from the sound of it, it completely went over her head and she rejected him without even aware of it. Damn, that's tough. And almost literally on his birthday."

Despite his words, Kurumu didn't rejoice, instead, she looked down, depressed.

"I mean, it's not like I didn't know...the way he always acted towards her...even though I hoped..." she murmured to herself, she was on the verge of crying. But she was shaken out of it, by Tsuna gently bopping her head.

"You know from what I saw of you until now, I wouldn't have thought you as the kind of person to give up so easily." he stated so bluntly that Kurumu looked up in shock. His expression softened slightly as he looked away from her, his mind far away. "They say love is blind, but I think what's truly blind is a crush. If you have a crush, you will easily ignore what's in front of you, even if you later curse yourself for your blindness." he said before he moved to the door, his hand on the handle, turning back once more to the succubus."Ask yourself this. Are you a coward who gives up without really doing anything, or are you gonna show him what's in front of his face?"

He was about to open a door when Kurumu's quiet voice stopped him.

"Which are you?" she asked him, looking at him in curiosity. Tsuna had a bitter smile on his face as he opened the door.

"I'm the coward, what else?" he murmured, a soft understanding in his eyes before his face went impassive as he opened the door and stepped into the infirmary.

Inside he found Tsukune sitting in one of the beds, a blanket covering him from the neck down, though he still caught sight of one of the many skull faces covering the teen's body. He narrowed his eyes at that, a little angry at himself for letting it progress to this state. Still, he made it back in time and that was all that mattered.

Moka was also there, sitting at his side, smiling gently at the teen who had a downtrodden expression. He could sympathize with Tsukune, he knew how it felt when your confession was thought to be a joke. As he stepped into the room, he also noted some kind of picture next to the vampire, but he couldn't get a good look at it from where he was.

"Man, you look like you're on your deathbed. Cheer up, it's your birthday." he said with a snicker as he walked up to them, causing the two of them to turn toward him in shock.

"Tsuna-san?/Tsuna-kun!" the two cried out in surprise as if they hadn't met in a long time. Well, it was a few days, but he didn't think it was that long.

"Heard you got into some trouble without me here." he commented as he looked over Tsukune who was still hiding behind covers."How do you always end up in these messes? he asked, sounding genuinely curious.

It was uncanny how unlucky the guy was. At least for him, his bad luck steeped from Reborn's machinations, but Tsukune seems to do just fine on his own in the trouble department. Maybe he was some kind of monster magnet? He saw weirder things.

"Well, you see..." the raven-haired teen began to sheepishly think of some kind of excuse, that distracted him long enough for what Tsuna needed to do. Grabbing the injection, filled with the angel disease from his inner pocket, he quickly snatched the blanket away from Tsukune and just as quickly thrust the injection into his left shoulder."What are you doing?" Tsukune yelped as he grabbed his shoulder in pain.

Instead of answering Tsuna intently stared at his skull covered chest. There were a lot more than he figured there would be, showing that he was cutting it a little too close to comfort. Still, with a feeling of relief, he noted that as soon as he administered the 'cure' the skull faces along with the speech bubbles began to slowly fade away.

Though he couldn't help the small amused smirk on his face as he read one or two of those speech bubbles. It was a lot funnier when it wasn't happening to him.

"Looks like I made it just in time. Congratulations Tsukune, you are not dying." he covered up his expression with his dry tone.

"Tsukune-kun, look." Moka spoke up suddenly, diverting the attention from Tsuna as she pointed at Tsukune's body.

"That's the skulls disease or the shame to death disease." explained Tsuna."It's an illness that targets people like you and me and it's fatal there is no cure." he smirked at their alarmed expressions. "That's why I had to call in a few favors to have something that can negate the disease, so you're welcome." he decided to leave the bit out of selling his blood or everything mafia-related, it was better to keep them out of whatever was gonna happen.

A part of him, the sadistic one that sounded suspiciously like Reborn found their reactions hilarious. Of course, he was worried about the boy, but now that was over and behind him, he could see why Reborn trolled him so much in his younger years.

Before he could enjoy himself more, a hand lashed out grabbing his cheek and pulling it quite harshly. He cried out more in surprise than pain, before his eyes followed the hand holding him, meeting the eyes of an angry Moka. And despite it being her outer self and looking quite cute with that blush on her face, he still felt a shiver of fear creep through him.

"Moka-chan! It huuuwts!" he said as small tears gathered in his eyes. He had to remind himself that the girl was certainly a lot stronger than she looked. Moka continued to pout angrily at him.

Before anything could happen, Tsukune burst out laughing, holding onto his stomach. Surprised by the sudden action Tsuna and Moka looked at each other, though the latter was still holding his cheek before they both began to laugh with small smiles on their faces.

As the others began to pile in, Tsuna stayed back a little, watching his friends having fun he couldn't help but feel a little retrospective. After what happened to him, the betrayal from his father of all people, feeling abandoned, he never would have thought he would once again feel like he belonged somewhere. When he started school he did not have any high hopes for his high school life, save for staying out of trouble and anything related to the mafia.

Yet here he was, having fun with this new group of friends, who proved to be just as insane as the ones he left behind. These peaceful days he wanted to experience them as long as he could. But he knew sooner or later it will end. He wasn't sure if it was his intuition or simple pessimism, but he vowed to get ready because just like he told Dino, he wanted to live. He wanted to treasure moments like this for as long as he could.

A gentle tug on his jacket drew his attention to Moka who was standing next to him, with a small frown on her face. He gave her a single nod, his face instantly sobering as he followed her out of the infirmary. They stepped out, the door closing behind them, instantly softening the sounds of their friends.

The vampire stood at a window, looking out at the night sky, deep in thought. The moon was out, not a full moon but pretty close to it and as it shined down on her it gave her an ethereal look. Tsuna walked next to her and looked out as well, content to remain silent until she decided to speak.

"Why didn't you tell us?" she asked in a whisper. Her tone wasn't accusing, more like disappointed and full of hurt, and Tsuna lowered his head, feeling bad for hurting her, no matter how unintentional it was.

"Would it have changed anything?" he asked back just as softly, bracing himself on the window frame, looking out, not wanting to meet her eyes."The skull disease is not a normal illness. Resting, staying in bed, any form of medicine, none of them would have worked. If that's the case, wasn't it better that he was able to live his days just like usual instead of worrying about something that he has no control over."

"That's not the point." Moka cried out in frustration, turning to him with distraught eyes."Even if nothing could be done, Tsukune deserved to know what's happening to him. You are always so secretive, not telling us anything until it's absolutely necessary. Even then, you act as if there was nothing wrong about it." she panted, tears gathering in her eyes."If you had arrived a little later, if Tsukune had died without even knowing why, what would you have done?" she demanded, stepping closer to him, searching his eyes for an answer.

"I would admit my mistake and face the consequences." he stated with a firm tone. He was already prepared for it since it was his lapse of judgment that landed Tsukune into this situation. During his trip, he thought a lot about what he could have done differently. Maybe he should have used the dying will on himself on that first time he shot Tsukune in the fight against Saizou. He shouldn't have been so careless with the use of bullets those other times the raven-haired teen got into trouble. But ultimately, thinking of what-ifs accomplished nothing. "The thing is, as a dying will user I'm intimately familiar with regrets." he said as he looked at the moon once again, his mind far away."When you use the dying will, for a horribly long moment you truly die." he revealed and he heard a soft gasp from Moka."You are at the end of the road, filled with nothing but various regrets, that sense of accomplished nothing worthy with your life. That's a terrible thing to face. Trust me, sometimes ignorance is truly a bliss."

"Just who are you?" she asked after a long moment of silence, looking at him intently as if she saw him for the first time.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out." he answered honestly."I thought I had a good idea of who I was and what I was gonna do, but out of nowhere, everything I thought to be true turned out to be a lie. Guess, right now I'm trying to pick up the pieces and see what remained. It's not as easy as I thought." he looked into her eyes, trying to convey with his eyes what he couldn't with his words."But believe me, I am your friend, I know that for sure." he reached out to her, trying to place a hand on her arm to reassure her.

He kept his face carefully blank as she stepped away from him, not meeting his eyes, one hand holding onto her rosary. She hesitated, not knowing what to say. In the end, he sighed, and pulled out the envelope from his pocket, handing it to Moka who looked at him in question.

"Here. Someone placed this into my pocket while I was in the human world, it's addressed to you." she accepted it, looking at it curiously before she decided to simply put it away for the time being.

Without saying a word, she turned away from him and walked to the door to join and Tsukune and the others.

Tsuna watched on with a frown on his face, not moving to follow her. In the end, he simply turned back to the window, looking at the sky with a forlorn look on his face.

"Who am I? I'm the guy who has too many regrets." he said to himself before he glanced down at his ring."You think I was wrong as well?" he asked, but huffed when no answer came."Suit yourself." he muttered.

He quickly chuckled at the way he was acting, knowing if his tutor were here, Reborn would have kicked him on the head for acting so unfit. He stepped away from the window and went to join the others, pasting a painfully fake smile on his face.


	10. The calm before the storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cover: Someone holding up a photo of the newspaper club, with everyone present on it but there is a crosshair drawn around Tsuna's head

"Why aren't we going to our usual training place?" Tsukune asked with a tired yawn as he dragged himself after Tsuna who didn't seem like he would stop anytime soon.

It was about a week since the incident with Ishigami and him almost dying, something he tried not to think about much. He felt marginally better, though he still woke up some days completely exhausted but it may have been because of Tsuma's insane training. For some reason, the enigmatic teen decided to amp up the difficulty setting on his training, much to his dismay.

After the whole debacle with the skulls that screamed out his deepest embarrassments, he felt relieved that things were getting back to the normal routine. Well, almost everything. Though there was a little awkwardness between him and Moka after her oblivious rejection, he soon came to peace with that and their friendship remained as strong as ever. Even Kurumu being extra clingy and spending a lot more time with him was something he quickly accepted as normal.

What he found strange that there appeared some kind of distance between Moka and Tsuna. It wasn't obvious at first glance, he was pretty sure not even Kurumu or their other friends noticed it but it was there.

Only thanks to all the attention he paid to Moka that he noticed and even then he almost dismissed it because it sounded ridiculous. But it was there, subtle differences in their interactions. How Moka looked away, not meeting Tsuna's eyes, how she no longer visited them during his morning training, how they tended to descend into awkward silences, and how she stepped away from him whenever he stepped close to her. Tsuna bare all of it silently, the only sign of it affecting him was the way his shoulders dropped and the closed look in his eyes.

As their friend Tsukune was of course was worried about whatever was going on between them but the one time he tried to bring up the subject with his friend, Tsuna gave him a look that immediately destroyed any further thoughts of prying into their business. Still, he hoped things got better between them soon.

"Until now we mostly focused on your physical conditioning so you could survive until I can use the dying will bullet on you and for you to be able to handle the strain that comes with constant usage." Tsuna explained after a long silence, drawing Tsukune away from his musings.

"I remember feeling a little exhausted but not anything bad." he objected with a thoughtful frown. "And didn't you say the dying will releases external limiters and grants invincibility?" he asked trying to remember the explanation he got at the start of the year.

"That's true for the basic bullet but there more complex ones that are more demanding. Ones you are nowhere near ready for." he waved away his objections, giving a friendly greeting to the few students who were up at this hour."Now that you recovered from the skulls disease, we can begin training in earnest." as he caught Tsukune's sour look, he couldn't help but laugh."Get over it, I had to go through this just like you. Except my tutor was, even more, a sadistic bastard. It's a necessary step to acclimate your body to the dying will flames, so you could properly utilize them."

"I really don't want to meet that tutor of yours." Tsukune said with a shudder. You poor boy, you don't even know the half of it."You still didn't explain where are we going." he reminded the brown-haired teen.

"As I said, now that you have reached a level of physical fitness of a little above the average human norm," as he told it matter-of-factly, Tsukune's shoulders dropped in dejection."It's time we focus more on you mastering the dying will flame."

"Master? What do you mean by that?"

"You remember me in dying will form?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, receiving a nod in answer."That's what we want you to achieve in time. The way you use it now is without any control. You only concentrate on the regret that activates it, charging forward like a bull. You are a berserker, incapable of thinking. You also fight with full throttle, burning a dying will at maximum all the time. That's why you could only stay at that state for five minutes at most." he explained, much to the other teen's surprise. Usually, Tsuna wasn't one to explain things, preferring to leave him in the dark.

Looking away from Tsukune who was listening attentively, he held back a smirk as they finally reached the karate club's dojo. Motioning for Tsukune to follow him he entered while he continued to explain how training will be from now on.

"You can only master the dying will while trying to use it consequently and since my body still has trouble entering that state, I arranged for a sparring partner. Of course, every few days we will go back to the basics and work on strengthening your body further but for the time being, control over dying will flame is more important."

Tsukune opened his mouth to ask a question but he was cut off as Tsuna entered the inner room, forcing him to follow after him. Inside there was one student, rigorously practicing some kind of kata. He remembered him, he was an upperclassman who sometimes dropped by his training to talk with Tsuna and demand spars from him. Gin also mentioned him, complaining about him not capable of holding back and hounding Gin whenever Tsuna was not available for spars. He shuddered as he realized the implications especially when Tsuna and the karate club captain, Haiji if he remembered right, shared a grin.

"Yo, Sawada." he greeted him enthusiastically after he finished his kata. Tsukune's muscles hurt just from seeing it, but he didn't even break a sweat. "It's been pretty boring since you decided to hang out less." he finally noticed Tsukune who offered a shaky grin in greeting. "So this is that pupil that I heard about?" he asked as he looked at him curiously.

"Yeah, that's Tsukune." Tsuna said as he encouragingly put his hand on the human's shoulder. That didn't encourage Tsukune at all, whenever Tsuna decided to be supportive it meant that there was a real possibility of dying."So if it's not too much trouble, could I ask you to spar with him a little?"

"Sure, he looks a little weak and frail-looking but it was the same with you and I learned better to assume." Haiji agreed with a large grin before he raised an eyebrow in question."But why can't you train him? You told me you are the same species of youkai so wouldn't you be a better choice? Or you want him to learn karate specifically? In that case, he is free to join our karate club." he added with a chuckle.

Tsuna waved him off chuckling as well.

"The goal is not to teach any techniques to him, that can be done later." the older teenager looked interested in the explanation so he continued."His powers are unstable and without control, the only way he could control them is through fighting. I will fight him also on some days but it would help him a lot more to fight other opponents too. How about it? Right now he is a berserker without any control, eager to back up no matter what you diss out. He would be the ideal punching bag." he ignored his student's alarmed look and his face turned serious."The more he fights, the more familiar he becomes with his power, enabling better control and output. It would be a few days a week at most, the other days either I would spar with him or I spar with you while he works on his strength training. You win either way." he said with a small grin.

"Sounds interesting. "Haiji chuckled before he faced Tsukune with an eager smile."Are you ready kid?" he asked taking a karate stance.

"What? Of course not. I'll definitely die." the human protested, frightened by the aura of the 2nd year student. Before he could even think about running away, Tsuna placed a hand on his shoulder, sending him a reassuring smile. But behind that smile was a promise of extreme pain if he tried to chicken out.

"You'll be fine or at least you won't die just yet. But if you want to stop relying on me or Moka then you have to train like your life depended on it." Tsuna said in a lowered voice. He looked into his eyes, Tsukune unable to look away. After a long moment, he gave a shaky nod."Good, you have the case of dying pills with you? Eat one, only one whenever you are knocked out of the dying will state." he gave a nod to Haiji before he began to leave the room."I'll leave you guys to it. I have a few things to do so I'll be back later. Try not to die, Tsukune."

"W-wait, Tsuna!" Tsukune cried after in worry, before his instincts screamed and he jumped away just as the upperclassmen stuck where his head was a moment ago."That could have killed me!" he shouted, horrified.

Haiji only laughed at hearing him before he was once again on the poor human.

-0-

"Here are the items you requested." a small student with a very rat-like face said as he placed a smaller bag in front of Tsuna. His beady eyes roamed around the room nervously as if fearing someone or something jumping out of nowhere.

Though he told Tsukune how many things one can get their hands on in a male dormitory, the truth was it was a little harder than he made it out to be. There were s few people who made a business about getting their hands on and smuggling into the school various items from the youkai world, items others would find hard to come by or the school didn't let them bring them. There were even fewer who dared to acquire items from the human world, something many frowned upon despite them being in a school focusing on coexistence.

Of course, it was not easy to smuggle anything into the school. Despite his first impressions. after he looked into it, the school was keeping an eye on many things, one of them was the various contrabands. Even the students went through quite a serious check, though there were blind spots just like the one he and Tsukune 'fell' through.

Still, despite, the difficulties in acquiring the goods there was more than enough of a demand that many students tried their hand in it. The one before him, Murikawa was one of the best currently in the school with the reputation as a trusty, reliable salesman. He was the one Tsuna preferred to do business with most of the time since he was able to acquire most objects he needed while he had little reason to betray or trick him.

He was far from trusting the older student, his past with the mafia made him suspicious of anyone but he was pretty sure he could easily take him on even without dying will if he tried anything.

Tsuna frowned as he checked the contents of the bag. He may offer a minuscule amount of trust to Murikawa, he was not so naive not to check out the goods before paying.

"This is only half of what I asked for." he noted with a narrowed gaze. He was not so much afraid that the dealer tried to trick him since someone like him relies on his customers' continued support and with access to the newspaper club he could easily discredit Murikawa's business venture if needed. Something the older student was well aware of.

What was worrying that for the last few weeks other small-time dealers also had difficulty acquiring various items he asked from various sources as a precaution. Murikawa was one of the most trustworthy and it was worrying if even he found it hard to operate.

"Can't be helped, the Public Safety Commission decided to crack down on us for some reason." answered the older student, shifting in place uneasily. He was not a fighter, that's why he worked behind the scenes, making business instead of fighting for power like the stronger and stupider monsters. He had no loyalty to anything, his goal was simply to survive with the most money he can get away with."Since I only got half, let's say eighty percent of the initial price."

Tsuna raised an eyebrow, looking not very impressed.

"Let's say sixty percent and I'm being generous since it's only around half of what I needed since I can understand that your work is not very easy." he countered with a disinterested impression, watching as Murikawa visibly sweated. He was even more unnerved than usual, this Commission had him scared to hell and back.

"Meet me at seventy. I had to think about the added expenses bribing the Commission to look the other way so I could get a part of the requested products." he offered in the end.

Tsuna rolled his eyes, even as he handed over the money to Murikawa and picked up his bag, and left. It surprised him a little to see that the monsters used human money but after a little investigation, it was not that surprising. The youkai world lived in secret from the human one but used many of its inventions for their own use. The older clans may use gold, silver, and other minerals between each other as a substitute for money, those clans were scattered and isolated enough that there wasn't a need for united money before.

Only in the last century when there was any kind of growing unity between various youkai that the need for it become real. And since there was a little human money 'in circulation' thanks to their contact with the human world, most notably the mafia, it was easier than trying to make one from scratch. It also helped them to integrate into the human world.

He was thankful that his good for nothing father sent quite a lot of money to his mother in the effort to appear as a caring husband and father to the world, that meant since his mother was not one to spend a large amount of money, there was enough saved that he had quite a big allowance while in this school. It felt good that even while cut off from the Vongola, he didn't have to ask for help from Dino or anyone else at least in this matter, though the thought of spending his father's money left a rather sour taste in his mouth.

Still, he got his money's worth at least. He got the most needed items for the little project he was working on and also learned a useful tidbit of information. He already knew about the iron grip the commission had on the students, despite the small incidents they were involved in, the situation would have been much worse if students didn't fear acting out, in case the school police gets involved.

He planned to keep away from them for the time being, not wanting to have Moka and the others involved in case he got in trouble with them. From the rumors alone they, or at least their leader was very strong since even Haiji cautioned him against gaining the attention of the Commission in one of their talks. Also from what he knew they didn't even really answered to the headmaster, which made them even more of a wildcard in his eyes.

But the most interesting thing they were corrupt, which was an even more interesting development. For a moment he toyed with the thought of taking them down, a new school police may be placed in their place but it wouldn't be corrupt and would be too distracted trying to achieve a semblance of order to notice him doing a few things under their nose.

It would be profitable to bring those smugglers under his fold. With a little help and a little organization that lucrative business could be a lot less dangerous and very profitable for him. He knew about how the underworld worked thanks to Reborn's relentless lessons that he could easily model it after the black market. It would be a good source of money that didn't have anything to do with his father and it would place a lot of students directly or indirectly under him, which would be useful if he ever needed to cement his position in the school.

"And I'm again thinking like a mafioso." he muttered as he began to massage his head. He could not help it. Like it or not, the mafia became an integrated part of himself and since his talk with Dino and Lal, he was thinking more and more about what was happening in the mafia.

That's why he decided to amp up Tsukune's training regiment. Sooner or later the mafia will come to him since his very existence is a threat to Massino. Moka, she could defend herself, even her sealed self was stronger than most humans, but Tsukune, on the other hand, would die instantly. Tsuna was sure he figured out the type of flame he most probably had and adjusted the training according to it. He thought about introducing him to the hyper dying will, but the human was nowhere ready for it, not yet.

Walking back to the dojo, he was smiling softly at the picture that greeted him. A beaten-up Tsukune lied before him, his soul trying its hardest to leave the body while Haiji was patiently practiced not far from them, only a slight sweat as evidence of their training.

"Hey, Tsukune, you alive?" he asked, probing him with his foot. When the young teen groaned in pain, he moved on, conscience clear. "So, how did he do?" he asked from the karate club captain who stopped when he noticed.

"Better than I would have thought." answered Haiji with a laugh as he noticed Tsukune twitch in response to his words."As you said he had no form, no tactic but what he had is resilence. I look forward to our next training session."

Tsuna couldn't help but give a small smile at hearing that. Tsukune and he had been in different circumstances but unlike Tsuna who had to be forced to train by Reborn, his student seemed to be quite enthusiastic in bettering himself.

"Glad to hear it. I will be back with him in a few days but it's better to not focus on only one aspect." Tsuna said while he effortlessly picked up his friend, throwing his arm over his shoulder. "How about a spar tomorrow? I shouldn't just laze about while my kouhai tries his best not to die?" he asked with a wry grin.

Haiji only gave him a sharp smile before waving him off, letting him carry Tsukune away. He only just left the dojo when he already got bored with the whole thing, deciding to drop the teen who groaned in pain and proceeded to drag him by his leg. The few students who were up and about could only look in horror as Tsuna dragged a very corpse-like Tsukune away.

-0-

 _"How long do you plan to keep up this foolishness_?" a harsh voice demanded, causing Moka to awkwardly jump from where she stood in front of the mirror in her bathroom, drying her lush, pink hair after her morning bath.

Gulping, she turned back to face her reflection. But instead of the green-eyed, pink-haired Omote, the one who looked back was Ura, with her red, slitted eyes and silver hair, scowling at her as she crossed her arms.

"I-I don't know what are you talking about." she stuttered out but did not stay to see her other self's expression, instead she hurried to her bedroom, planning on finish her morning preparations in peace for once.

Since the time her sealed powers were first unsealed and the dark, scary part of her awakened, Ura began to talk to her through the rosary that kept her powers in check, and even if she was at first bewildered by it, she liked it. It was like having a roommate with her all the time, she never had to feel lonely.

Of course, it also had its downsides. Her other self was very critical, and a little bit arrogant, not approving her friendship with Tsukune or Kurumu for example and she had a bad habit of talking to her when her attention should be focused elsewhere, like in the middle of class. It also didn't help that unlike a roommate, if they ever disagreed, she couldn't even leave to try and cool down, she had to endure the lectures from Ura endlessly.

At first, she talked from her rosary, choosing to stay silent most of the time, but recently when she spoke, Ura even replaced her reflection, though it looked like it was only her who saw Ura, the others only seeing her regular reflection. And, through the last week, she talked a lot more, arguing with her but for once in her life, she was not letting her told her what to do.

 _"Don't play dumb. I'm talking about that ridiculous pouting of yours."_ Ura's voice drawled in her mind as she finished buttoning up her blouse _. "You know I'm normally not one to say that but you shouldn't hold a grudge for something so insignificant."_ she heard her other self audibly scoff, annoyed by the week-old argument.

"It's not insignificant." she cried out, whirling around on impulse, even if she knew there was no one behind her."Because of Tsuna, Tsukune almost died and we wouldn't have known the reason for it. He is always like this, staying silent and guarded, not telling anything to me, I mean us until he decides there's no other way." she said, hugging herself for a little bit of comfort.

 _"What are you? His wife or girlfriend, he should tell everything about himself?"_ Ura asked sarcastically before Omote felt her staring at her in disapproval even though she had no body at the moment _."It's getting really annoying that I had to defend him and talk about trust issues but the bottom line is that he was right. Knowing about Tsukune's illness would have changed nothing, other than letting the two of you worry about something that you could not change."_

"Tsukune at least had a right to know that he was dying from something that Tsuna did to him." she argued back, walking over to her desk, seeing an opened letter laying there. It was slightly crumpled from her reading it over and over so much. "He has so many secrets to him and you told me before he was dangerous. Dangerous to be around. Even Akua-nee-san says that." she stated, referring to the letter from her sister, the brown-haired teen unknowingly delivered to her.

She was really surprised to find that the letter came from her oldest sister who she didn't see or heard from since a long time ago. In her letter, she asked how she was doing and questions like that, without telling anything about herself other than she was busy but the real surprise was at the end of the letter. Akua told her she knew she befriended Tsuna and warned her to keep her distance from him.

She told her while Tsuna was human, he was also dangerous, dangerous for the people around him. He was connected to the human criminal underworld, the mafia specifically with enemies who wanted nothing more than hurt him, and much to Moka's horror, Akua revealed in her letter that Tsuna had blood on his hands.

At first, she didn't want to believe her sister's words, wanting to believe in her very first friend. But the doubts began to appear, especially coupled with the whole skull disease fiasco. He had many secrets about him, many things he refused to talk about, along with that strange flame power, the dying will flame he had that he didn't tell them anything about. No matter how much she wanted to believe otherwise, a large part of her felt that maybe there was some truth to her sister's words.

Because of this, she began to subtly keep her distance, not knowing what to do. Her other part of course noticed that and began to pester her about that, their roles reversed for the first time since usually, it was Ura who was advising her to keep her distance from other people. She found her actions childish, saying she was needlessly sticking her nose into things that didn't involve either of them and was creating unnecessary problems.

"Why are sticking up for him all of a sudden?" she asked as she went to gather up her books for the day, wanting to get over their almost usual morning argument.

 _"Because as much as I hate to say it, he is the only one who can release a seal if something bad happens or your idiot friend once again runs into trouble."_ Ura asked, making it clear that she didn't like depending on anybody _. "With the seal on, you are only slightly stronger as a human and I have no wish to die because you ran into some trouble that you couldn't handle."_ she conveniently didn't mention that Tsuna was also someone who intrigued her and she wanted to see what he was truly capable of since most of the time he preferred let others do the heavy lifting.

Of course, she thought as a frown appeared on Omote's face. It was typical of Ura, not caring about others, looking down on everyone who was not someone strong like her, and seeing people only what use they could be for.

A knock on her door ended their argument for the moment as she went to answer it. Both of them agreed not to argue when others were near her since while Ura talks to her silently, no one wiser, Omote could only reply audibly and it would not be good for either of them if people thought she was crazy for talking to herself. Thus, this silent truce was created between them.

She went to open the door, her eyes widening at who she found on the other side.

-0-

"I feel like a truck went over me ten times at least before I was stretched all over the place by some medieval torture equipment." muttered Tsukune as he dragged himself after Tsuna, his whole body crying out in protest of even trying to breathe.

"That's oddly specific Tsukune." the former mafioso commented with obvious amazement.

They were walking toward the cafeteria after he dragged his student back to the dorm to change and ready for the classes. He sent Lambo there earlier today to get some snacks from the cafeteria before the rush of students could empty it and wait for them there, so Tsukune would replenish some of the lost energy.

When the black-haired human was not looking Tsuna went over his state with a critical eye. Despite Tsukune believing otherwise he was in a much better shape than he should be after he went for a full spar against Haiji, the second-year student who was already one of the most powerful monsters in the school strength-wise.

His wounds were slowly healing, already several bruises looked around a day or two old instead of being fresh. Tsuna estimated that by the end of the day he would be left with only a few scrapes, confirming his suspicion.

When they arrived at the cafeteria with time before their first class, neither of them was surprised the cafeteria was mostly empty. By this time the students would buy all available breakfasts and left in quick order to get ready for their classes. What was surprising that instead of just Lambo waiting for them at their usual table with a couple of sandwiches, they were greeted by Kurumu, Moka, and Yukari sitting next to Lambo, the whole table filled to the brim with delicious smelling breakfast.

"Good morning Tsuna-nii, Tsukune-san." Yukari greeted them brightly, waving them as she noticed them. Despite it being morning she was already very preppy in contrast to Kurumu who struggled to even stay upright until she noticed her destined one walking towards her.

"Tsukune-kun! Good morning!" she cried out as she launched herself at the unsuspecting teen who placed his hands around her waist as he struggled not to trip and bring the girl down with him. Kurumu took a moment to press her assets into his face before leaning backward and inspecting him. Her face turned worried when she noticed the fading black eye on his face. "What happened to you Tsukune-kun? Don't worry I will use my body to nurse you back to health." she cooed as she began caressing his face that erupted in an enormous blush.

"I wonder if I should step in or let Tsukune get traumatized for life by the far too eager succubus." Tsuna mused out loud, scratching his head in puzzlement."Thought it could be used for character development." Unfortunately said succubus heard his words, causing her to instantly turn to him.

"Tsuna! Why are you tormenting my precious destined one? Thanks to you he injuries himself almost daily." she accused pointing a finger at him, while her other hand pished Tsukune's face back to its 'proper' place, not letting the poor boy get even a word in."You push him so hard he even fell ill, but you didn't even let him have a day off."

"That's called training, something he wanted so don't blame me if I deliver what I promise. You should try it too if you don't want others to save your skin if you get any trouble." Tsuna answered back, though his voice lacked any heat. He and Kurumu had a strange relationship that consisted of them arguing with each other most of the time. "And for the last time, skull disease is practically what sheep pox is to the humans. You have to get it once so you will be immune after that." he grumbled as he went to the table, looking around.

The table was full of various foods, and just looking at it made him hungry. Bacon, egg, toast, cereal and he even spied pancakes, though Lambo did his best to try and eat them before any of them would wise up and notice it. Yukari was beaming at him expectantly while Moka sat silently, looking at Tsukune and Kurumu, determinedly not meeting his eyes.

"So what's the occasion for this five-star breakfast?" he asked from the little witch curiously, while causally boking Lambo on the head, silently telling him to slow down and chew. It was obvious they knew he and Tsukune would be here to eat something as they except for Lambo waited for them to arrive before digging in.

"Kurumu, Moka-nee, and I thought that you and Tsukune worked so hard this last week that you could use a good, fulfilling breakfast, so the three of us asked permission from the dinner lady and with a little help made you guys breakfast." she explained, smiling brightly when Tsuna affectionally patted her head, even though she had her hat on.

"Well, thanks for that, it's really thoughtful." he said to her with a sincere smile, before he finally met Moka's eyes. She looked as if she was about to say something before she flinched and averted her eyes. It was very subtle and most people would have chalked it up to shyness but Tsuna was good enough at reading facial expressions to not be fooled. He had to, a large part of his life was spent bullied, he had to know when to try to run and when to take a beating. In response, Tsuna's mouth tightened for a moment before he controlled his expressions.

Yukari also seemed to catch it because her smile became a bit forced, prompting him to sigh. He did not need this kind of drama, not with a possible mafia civil war happening any time along with everything else he had on his plate.

While Tsukune stayed silent and decided to let the two of them figure things out between themselves, Yukari on the other hand used every opportunity she could get her hands on to force Moka and him to talk things out and make up. He got it where she was coming off it was pretty clear she looked up to and even idolized the two of them, she wanted things to turn back how they were before.

"Come on Tsukune, let's eat." Kurumu cried as she dragged the still blushing teen to the table, sitting down next to Lambo who was eying Tsuna cautiously while he was eating slower. The only seat left for Tsuna was the one between Moka and Yukari, something that was without a doubt thanks to the young witch.

"Ittadakimasu!" all of them called out softly save for Lambo as they took their seats and began to eat. Tsuna immediately grabbed a nearby toast and began to nibble on it, appreciating the fact that they can have a calm, fulfilling breakfast for once, instead of quickly eating whatever they managed to grab from the cafeteria.

"This is delicious! All the pain I had to go through was worth something at least." Tsukune cried out as he tasted the scrambled eggs the succubus placed in front of it, tears coming out from his eyes. Kurumu, who made that specific food was shyly blushing at his side like a newlywed housewife.

"Here, try this, Tsukune-kun." Kurumu said sweetly, handing him the miso soup she made with all her love, a shy smile on her face. Tsukune, oblivious to the looks she got from his other friends, eagerly dig into it.

"Seems like Tsukune and Kurumu gotten a lot closer to each other." commented Moka with a small smile, though she felt a little out of place at the idyllic picture before them as she bit into a sandwich.

"If I watch it too long my teeth gonna rot." Tsuna said with a blank look as he sipped a cup of orange juice."Next thing we know they are married with the second kid on its way."

"Yeah." Yukari agreed with a sage nod before a sly smile appeared on her face. "The only ones who can do that are you and Moka-nee." as if on cue, at her words both Tsuna and Moka began to choke on their food or drink and began to cough, embarrassed blush on their faces.

"Yu-Yukari-chan!" Moka cried out as she pouted at the young girl along with Lambo, who did not catch what was happening but joined in nonetheless. Thankfully Tsukune and Kurumu were distracted for the time being.

Tsuna only stared at the witch with a raised eyebrow after he managed not to choke on his juice, silently promising that since Tsukune's training started to require less active interaction from him, he was gonna start tortu-, ahem, training both Lambo and Yukari since he was such a caring older brother.

At that moment, as if they knew what was awaiting them, both kids started shivering, resembling him during his training with Reborn, amusing the former mafioso. A soft laugh reached his ears, that he thought for a moment that he just imagined it since it was so low, making him turn around. He only saw Moka still pouting at Yukari's words, though it looked as if her rosary moved for a second.

"Let's just get back to eating." he said in the end, trying to hide the frown from his face. His questions about Moka and her seal just kept piling up, but he already decided not to go behind her back. No matter how much his paranoid nature demanded him to be aware of every possible danger.

Still, that paranoid little voice in his head was getting more and more insistent every time he even looked at the vampire. The sudden distance between them was not helping him keep that voice down, the less she was a friend and more of an ally, the easier it was to convince himself of the necessity of looking into her secrets.

They began to eat quietly, talking about just whatever came to mind, with an unconscious decision to keep away from the topic of whatever was going on with Tsuna and Moka. Both teens welcomed that change, allowing them to eat in peace.

"Tsuna-nii, can I ask a question?" Yukari asked him softly after a while, looking a little unsure. Tsuna who was chewing on a strip of bacon turned to her curiously, humming in agreement."I never heard of monsters like you and Tsukune. Could you tell me a little about them.?"

Instantly Tsukune tensed and began to look around nervously, before turning to Tsuna. Lambo stopped eating and began sweating as he also looked at Tsuna for what to do. On the other hand, the brown-haired teen continued to chew slowly, with no hint of nervousness on his face. Next to him, Moka who also knew about the truth about the two of them and the dying will flame also paled and began to play with her hands.

'Can these guys be any more obvious?' he asked from himself with a sweatdrop. Thankfully, both Yukari and Kurumu looked at him when the question came up but this was beyond ridiculous. Was he this transparent before Reborn came?

Lucky for him, he was working hard to make up a believable cover, using little tidbits he learned from the youkai world since he came here. It was not foolproof but it should be enough to cast doubt if anyone suspected them to be anything other than monsters. But there was still a sour taste in his mouth because he constantly lied to the people he hangs out with, people he even began to call friends. Still, the omerta must be upheld.

"To tell you to the truth, most would call us half-breeds since we are very similar to witches when you look at it closer." he admitted much to their shock, especially Yukari's eyes widened at the words. Similarly, Tsukune and Moka also looked shocked since they had no idea where he was going with this.

"Really?" the young witch who spent a lot of time bullied and harassed because of her heritage asked with unabashed hope. Unnoticed by Tsuna, Moka clenched her fist, an angry expression appearing on her face at his lie.

"Well, as you know most monsters' true form looks different than their human forms. Unlike them, Tsukune and I aren't changing physically, only a flame appears on our forehead. We live a lot more isolated from other monsters that's why we are not well-known." Tsuna said explaining the story he made up for his and Tsukune's cover."For most of us, you could hardly tell us apart from humans because there is a requirement for our powers to manifest for the first time. We need to have a near-death encounter. Hence we call it the dying flame." Kurumu and Yukari looked horrified, the succubus clutching Tsukune's arm close to her in an effort to make sure he was alright. Tsuna decided to give little half-truths to make the cover more believable.

"So how did you activate your powers for the first time?" Moka asked, not even sure if what he was telling was the truth or not.

"My teacher shot me in the head." was the answer he gave them, along with a bright smile. Everyone looked at him horrified, even Tsukune who knew that was really how the dying will bullet worked, but couldn't understand how easily Tsuna admitted that.

"That sounds horrific! What kind of teacher did you have?" Kurumu asked, practically molding herself to Tsukune for comfort who couldn't complain at having a beautiful girl wrapping herself around him.

"A spawn of the devil." was the cheery response before Tsuna begab to ponder, putting a hand on his chin."Come to think of it, maybe I was taking it easy on Tsukune after my own very traumatic training. Guess I shouldn't hold back so much." at his words poor Tsukune began to tremble and for a moment it looked like his soul tried to escape through his mouth. The others nervously laughed at him, not knowing if he was serious or not.

"Please, that training for wusses. It's nothing for someone as great as Lambo-sama." Lambo boasted but everyone saw he was bluffing. His eyes were wide as saucers, he was sweating heavily and was trembling in place. It was no surprise, Reborn loved for others who were around Tsuna to go through the same hell, and Lambo, as annoying as he was, was a favorite collateral target of his.

"Is that so? Guess it's time for me to bring out some of those old playing tools." Tsuna commented with a sadistic smile, a small part of him, the one that was influenced by Reborn enjoying himself, as tears began to gather in the young Bovino's eyes, even as he tried to keep up his confident pose. It also had the added benefit of turning the attention away from his and Tsukune's 'species'.

"Don't bully Lambo so much." Moka scolded him and he had to keep down the surge of irritation that her words caused. He was joking, of course, she knew it very well but it seems the skull disease incident did a real number on her trust. He shouldn't be surprised by that but it hurt nonetheless.

"From Lambo's reaction alone, I really wish we never meet your teacher." Kurumu admitted with an uneasy look before she perked up as a thought came to her mind."Hey, if we are asking questions now, I have one too. What is a lightning guardian?" she asked curiously, her head tilting as well.

Hearing her words, Tsuna found himself completely unprepared. He froze in the middle of taking a bite, his thoughts running rapidly as he tried to figure out where she could have heard this term. Was she involved with the mafia as well or did someone talked to her about it? Not to insult her intelligence, but Kurumu was a little bit of an idiot at least academically and she tended to put all her focus on Tsukune. Was it where she heard it? But he was careful to not tell or hint anything even to Tsukune, deciding to keep the other human in the dark until he shows the proper resolution that was needed to survive in the mafia.

He subtly cleared his throat when he noticed the others looking at him, worried about his reactions. Trying to force his face into a confused expression, he noticed Lambo wringing his hands nervously. Perhaps he was the source where the succubus heard it from. But the young Bovino was aware of the omerta, maybe even more than him since he was raised in that world instead of thrust into the middle like Tsuna.

"Lightning guardian?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, hoping he looked uncertain enough to tell that the term meant nothing to him. By the way, he caught Moka frowning at him in the corner of his vision he was not successful enough.

"Yeah, I wondered about that too." Yukari spoke up, looking at him with wide, curious eyes. Whenever she looked at him so openly, so trusting it bothered him quite a bit because of the countless lies he surrounded himself with."Last week when Lambo fought against Ishigami he said a few things we didn't know what it meant. He said something about being your lightning guardian and a hitman. Whenever I tried to ask Lambo he ran away or blow up something randomly." she stated sending a pointy stare at the increasingly more nervous mafioso.

"Is that so?" he asked while giving a brief glare to Lambo, his mind furiously trying to come up with an explanation that would let their curiosity die without giving up any real information. No matter how much he disliked it, it looked like he once again had to agree to half-truths for the time being.

"Well, Lambo usually says a lot of outrageous things, so it could be just like that." Tsukune spoke up with an unsure smile. He was just as lost as the others, but trusted Tsuna enough and felt indebted enough for all the help he gave him that he decided to try and help out when he saw the others try and peer into his secrets.

The others looked a little unconvinced by his words, though they could not deny it that Lambo tended to act and say things that didn't make much sense. Lambo meanwhile was getting more and more nervous by the attention on him, tears gathering in the corner of his eyes. He was probably moments away from using the bazooka, Tsuna thought, so he decided to speak up before that weapon could complicate matters further.

"Now that I think about it, I have an idea where the term lightning guardian may have come from." he put his hand on his chin to further create the image that he was deep in thought."My family and Lambo's knew each other for a long time, a few centuries at least. A distant ancestor of mine had a group of people gathered around himself, who called themselves his guardians. Lambo's ancestor was one of them, guess that's where it came from since he had lightning powers." he shrugged as if to say he knew nothing more."On the other hand, this hitman thing I knew where it came from. See, my teacher had a fondness for old-school human fashion, especially Italian suits so he frequently looked like a mafiosos would. Lambo wanted to surpass him and attacked him many times only for my teacher to beat him without even trying." a small chuckle escaped him as he thought about Lambo and his many failed assassination attempts at Reborn."It also didn't help that when he was at a young, impressionable age we strapped him down and made him watch with us the Godfather trilogy with Italian dub." he explained with a small smile. The last one truly happened and made for an amusing ten hours.

For a long moment, the others remained silent, only watching him with incredulous eyes. It made him nervous, wondering how was Reborn able to just state ridiculous claims like that and get away with it. He expected them to call him out on his lies at any moment but was surprised when they finally reacted.

"Well, it's Lambo so it makes a certain kind of sense." Yukari mused out loud, looking at Lambo thoughtfully who gave an indignant look back.

"And here I thought we could hear a wonderful tale instead of boring stuff like that." Kurumu said, pouting as she looked like she lost all her energy."I excepted to hear a fabulous tale of Tsuna being born female, a princess who was struck by a curse by a jealous witch who transformed her into a cold and ruthless man. The curse could only be broken by her true love's kiss but before that, they had to gather the approval of the various men in her life. Lambo, her adopted little brother, the lightning guardian, her otou-sama who could never let go of his daughter, the earth guardian, a childhood friend who would wish nothing more to see her smile, the water guardian, an aspiring young samurai who is in love with her and protects her with his passion, the fire guardian and last, the womanizer older brother, who is a secret siscon, the air guardian. It would be a tale of love, emotions, passions, and tragedy all the same." she regaled them, missing the others creeped out expressions as she was firmly stuck in her daydream. What was most worrying that there was a bubble above her that displayed various images as she told her daydream.

Out of all of them, Tsukune was the most horrified, pale, and shaking as the image of Tsuna in a dress burned into his mind. It was just so wrong.

'There is something wrong with the imagination of this girl and it was way too specific to my liking.' the brown-haired teen thought with a sweatdrop. Moka next to him couldn't seem to make up her mind what to think about it but he could have sworn he heard soft giggling from her rosary.

"Hey, why am I the evil witch?" Yukari protested with an indignant expression. Tsuna felt his sweatdrop grow, it was not the only thing wrong with the picture.

Lambo began laughing loudly at her that prompted her to wave around her wand angrily, sending a large metal basin to land on the unsuspecting Bovino's head. Yelping in pain, he holds his head after a hit that would have knocked out most humans at the very least before grabbing a grenade out of nowhere and throwing it at her.

Naturally, Yukari sent it away from her with a wave of her wand but unfortunately, it landed before Tsukune who was still semi-conscious, and Kurumu who was still in the middle of her daydream. The two could only blink at the offending object stupidly before it promptly detonated, coating the two of them in snot. Of course, seeing this, the two younger kids stopped their impromptu war and began to laugh loudly, pointing at them.

"You little brats! I'll make you sorry you messed with me!" roared the succubus as she got over her shock, causing both Yukari and Lambo to suddenly trying to hide away from her. She was about to attack them when the sound of someone laughing causing everyone at the table to turn to Tsuna.

The normally reserved and cool teen was laughing wholeheartedly at the scene before him. His eyes were closed as he leaned back in his chair and just laughed, forgetting all of his problems and burdens for the moment. The others only looked at each other uncertainly, before small smiles appeared on their faces and joined in.

The small moment was broken when out of nowhere Moka stood up abruptly, the others looked at her tense posture in question. Her head was down, hiding the conflicted expression on her face that only Tsuna caught. She stayed still for a second, almost making the others ask her what was wrong before she raised her head and gave a small, forced smile.

"Sorry, I forgot I left something in my dorm. I will meet you guys at class." she hurried away, not letting the others ask her anything else. Tsuna watched her with a thoughtful expression on his face before he also stood up.

"Thanks for the food." he called back with a half-hearted wave as he walked after Moka, not even trying to act as if he wasn't going after her. It was time for a long-overdue talk.

"Tsuna-nii, Moka-nee." Yukari muttered sullenly, looking in the direction her two sibling figures went. Kurumu and Tsukune shared a worried look between them before they in mutual agreement began to clean up the table, putting away the remaining food.

-0-

'I've changed a lot less than I thought' was the thought Tsuna arrived at as he went after Moka, weighing the events of the last few months.

Humans are social creatures after all. Even after he was betrayed by his father and abandoned by his guardians, he still couldn't help but crave companionship. Without even noticing it he befriended this strange group of monsters along with Tsukune, and because of that, he was a lot more truthful and open with them than it would be advisable in his position.

The mafia was on the verge of a civil war, his very existence still a thorn in whatever plans Massino cooked up, it was inevitable that he would be targeted sooner or later. Youkai Academy was also full of dangers and the headmaster's hidden agendas, he couldn't afford to look weak or vulnerable. Yet here he was playing nice in the newspaper club and acting like a typical teenager with all the unnecessary drama. And he couldn't say he regretted it.

"If Reborn would be here he would scold me, saying a mafia boss should not be this soft." he laughed ruefully himself as he finally spied Moka. Instead of going back to the dorm as she said, she took one of the less used forest paths and stopped next to a large tree. She had her back to him so she didn't notice him coming after her.

Tsuna frowned as he thought about how to approach her. He was no good with heart-to-hearts and obviously, this situation couldn't be solved with a joke or simply redirecting her attention. It was better to try and get rid of the tension between them before something bad happens.

"If you are gonna stand there looking all forlorn for too long we are gonna late for class you know." he spoke up, surprising the vampire who almost jumped a whole meter in fright.

She immediately turned around, facing him. It did not escape his notice how she did not meet his eyes or how she hugged herself as if she had not felt safe near him. In contrast, he felt a stare from Ura in the rosary but he felt no hostility from the sealed part of Moka.

"What's with that face?" Tsuna asked as he stepped closer to her, hands still in his pockets."Yukari and the others are worried about us, so I thought it's about time we talked about whatever is your problem with me. I mean, it's been a week already, I highly doubt that you are still angry about what happened with Tsukune, am I right? There's got to be something else." he said and the wince Moka failed to hide confirmed his suspicions.

Moak didn't answer at first but Tsuna waited patiently, knowing there was no use forcing her to hurry up. Rather they miss the first class and clear the air between themselves than let this distance between them become something worse since it not only affected them but the others as well.

"I'm still upset about what happened with Tsukune. You didn't tell us anything, instead, you went off and let us worry when those marks showed on Tsukune." the vampire began to say, gaining the courage to look up and meet his eyes. There was anger in her eyes, but it was almost overshadowed by confusion and hurt."I understand that you and Tsukune had to hide the fact that you are humans, but you have so many secrets about you, you don't tell us anything, even when it affects at least Tsukune. I don't even sure when you lie to us since you are doing it the same to others." she said, slowly but surely winding herself up and losing the last of hesitation.

Tsuna frowned at her words, feeling she was not telling him everything. A large part of it, his secretive nature in particular was something they addressed before and he honestly thought she accepted that part of him but looks like he was wrong. Though it was pretty hypocritical of her, to scold him for having secrets and not explaining things.

"I told you before, the world I belong to is different from the human world at large and even the youkai world. If I told you anything more than the bare minimum you could be in danger, you could be involved in dangerous things. I can't even shield Tsukune from them forever since his life changed forever the moment he came to this school, no," he shook his head, talking more to himself than her." since he met me. But I try to keep him away from the worst of it as long as I can, something I can't do if you constantly demand answers." he closed his eyes, trying to keep away the hurt at her mistrust. A part of him could understand it, but it didn't mean it didn't hurt."But I can't convince you of that, can I?"

For some reason, a scene from his past came to his mind. When they were trapped in the future ruled by Byakuran, when he and his friends were in the middle of training, Kyoko and Haru demanded answers from him. He wanted to keep them as far from the mafia and all the dangers it came with it, yet they demanded answers from him that he had no intent on providing. But right now he did not have a mentor to tell him what the correct answer was, only himself.

"It's not just that." Moka said, looking even more conflicted."The letter you gave, it was my older sister, Akua." she revealed to him, causing Tsuna's eyes to widen.

"Your sister?" he asked bewildered. He remembered the black-haired girl he encountered and he was lucky to survive. Whatever stayed her hand, he felt that brief killing intent and knew that as easily she placed the letter in his inner pocket, she could have easily killed him. That was Moka's sister? For some reason, it was not very surprising.

And here he thought it was only his family and those belonging to the mafia that were complicated. But apparently added to the mysteries surrounding Moka, he could add the older sister who gave a vibe of an assassin, a merciless killer. What's next? Tsukune discovering he is a descendant of some kind of exorcist family who destined to hunt down some kind of doomsday monster? On second thought, he rather not tempt fate if possible.

"In her letter, she told me that you are a criminal, belonging to the mafia." she explained with a lot more confidence than she felt."She told me to stay away because you are dangerous, that anyone who stays around you is in danger. She said...she said that you killed, that you are not who you claim to be." tears began to gather in her eyes in frustration and the hurt and uncertainty she tried to hold back until now.

Tsuna didn't say anything, only lowered his head, his hair shadowing his eyes. Moka didn't notice it, but his body was tensing and his mouth formed a grim line. Unknowingly she was stepping into dangerous territory, opening up old wounds that he wished to let rot forgotten.

"I don't know what to think." she confessed, looking away as the first tears began to fall on her face."I want to believe in my friend but you are so closed off, not willing to talk about your past and that power of yours. It feels like a lot of time you are just humoring our presence, and I just feel so uncertain because it looks like my sister who only met you once knows more about my best friend than I do." she clutched her hands to her chest as she began to sob, her own emotions getting out of her control.

"It does not what I say to you, you already made up your mind didn't you?" he asked harshly, causing, Moka to look up and flinch as she met his eyes. They were cold, no hint of the friendly if distant person she usually saw. It reminded her of Ura's stare, that merciless, judging gaze that nowadays greeted her in the mirror.

 _"Just who are you really, Sawada Tsunayoshi?"_ Ura asked quietly from inside her seal, feeling worried for her other-self. The teen was usually calm and not threatening at all, though she was aware he had a hard edge underneath all that fooling around. As Omote started to tremble, she wished she could release the seal herself, because, for some reason, the energy she felt from him had her on edge.

Suddenly, Natsu's ring caught fire, the small lion leaping out of it. Tsuna made no move to acknowledge his partner's presence that caused Natsu to growl to himself before he caught the edge of the teen's pants and began to tug them as if telling him to leave Moka alone.

Tsuna looked down and met his box animal's worried eyes. They had a long staredown before his shoulders slumped forward and the presence that had even Ura on edge disappeared. Instead of anger or indifference, all that left in him were sadness and tiredness. He reached up with a hand to massage his brows as he felt a headache making itself known.

"You just can't help yourself can you?" he asked, not expecting her answer as he raised his head meeting her eyes. Moka visibly recoiled how weary they were, suddenly Tsuna looked so much older than his age would suggest."Understand I can't tell you everything, I'm entitled to my privacy and secrets or I could start to ask you why do you need a seal for your powers when everyone else could do it without the aid of one or why do you have two different personalities." he waited until the vampire averted her eyes, shifting uncomfortably."The other thing is, there is a real danger of the enforcers of the mafia showing up out of nowhere and dragging us to their prison for life and I doubt even Ura-chan could defeat them. Understood?"

He waited for her to nod before he sighed as he tried to think of what to say. Meanwhile, seeing he calmed down, Natsu trotted to the pink-haired girl, prompting her to pick him up and pull him to her chest for comfort.

"The mafia, the real one is hidden by the human world at large but interestingly enough has a lot of contract with the youkai world." he started to explain with a serious look in his eyes. "The fact that your sister has contact with them, to the extent that she knew about me is worrying. My connection to them is due to my blood." at her clueless look he gave her a wry smile, hiding the darker thoughts running through his head."My ancestor, some four hundred years ago formed a vigilante group that turned to be one of the largest mafia famiglias of today before he retired to Japan. Of course, I knew nothing about any of this until I was already a middle schooler when suddenly I was thrust into that world. I had to fight for my life many times and during that time mastered the power that the mafia covets and treasures dearly, the dying will flame. Stuff happened and for most purposes, I'm no longer part of the mafia, though some don't see it that way." he looked at her, a little wary of her reaction, rightly so since she was already pretty distrustful towards him because of his alleged past.

"There are people after you?" she asked wanting to clarify. She still looked conflicted but at least the tears stopped for the time being. He could not understand why but seeing her, drying tear tracks on her face sent a pang through him but he quickly pushed it down, behind his self-control.

"Probably, don't know for sure." he admitted, trying to remain aloof, didn't want to alarm her any more than he already did."My very existence is a threat to some people, but this school is hidden enough to give anyone who is after me a bit of a pause. Even if it comes to that, I won't let others get hurt because of me." he promised sincerely. He would rather fight any assassin sent after him, even with his current condition to let those he called friends come to harm.

"That's a lot to take in." Moka said timidly, biting her lip as she looked away.

Part of her didn't want to believe her sister, but here was Tsuna confirming at least part of it. It should have made her scared, made her angry, to distance herself from him but for some reason, none of these things occurred to her as she was listening to him. The only thing she could concentrate on was the small glimpse of him he let out from the closed up mask he used almost all the time. Even Ura was silent, listening to Tsuna and deep in her thoughts, for once not offering up a commentary.

"I understand." he conceded with a shrug, trying to keep his own thoughts hidden. The youkai may be a grey spot in terms of the mafia but he still made quite a risk telling her even a portion of his past, still, he felt strangely lighter after a week of silence between them.

There was still a nagging doubt in the back of his head, that warned him that she could betray him just as easily as his father and the Vongola did, but he did his best no block it out. He was well aware that he was a mass of trauma and mental issues waiting to explode but for once he decided not to listen to his paranoia.

Seeing that things had calmed down, Natsu jumped down from Moka's arms and turned into a ball of fire before going back to the ring. The vampire meanwhile used her hands to wipe away the rest of her tears before she stepped closer to Tsuna, one hand resting on his chest in a seemingly intimate manner.

"Thank you for trusting me." she whispered to him, her eyes full of intense emotions. She looked at him as if seeing him in a new light and from the small smile on her face she liked what she saw. He felt his face redden at the look she gave him, making him instinctually retreat for the time being.

"Would you have taken no for an answer?" he asked with a wry smile, Moka trying to hold down a small laugh at his poor joke.

Her eyes were dropped to his neck and he caught a look of longing before she averted her eyes. After what happened, both of them were too emotionally drained for anything like that. Giving him one last look and a small smile she stepped away from him.

"I'll see you at class?" she asked hopefully while brushing her hair behind her ear. After Tsuna nodded, she decided to leave, letting him think through what happened on his own.

He came close to blowing her off, to distance himself from her and everyone else, lest he once again ends up hurt. It would have been the sensible action, he thought, since sooner or later the mafia would find him and he wouldn't want anyone else to be dragged into it. But the truth of the matter was that he was selfish. He wanted to have fun with the others in the newspaper club, to have these little moments of levity. And try as he might, being around Moka simply lowered the walls he put on, made him let his guard down more than he initially was comfortable with.

He remembered Reborn mentioning that the dying will flames are connected to one's life force, and very being so it stood to reason that the poison that affected his flames, would have an impact on his mentality as well. Still, it was not a good enough excuse for almost lashing out as he did. He needed to work to control his emotions or eventually, he would do something rashly he would never forgive himself for. He could already feel Reborn thinking up punishment, for failing to treat a lady like a mafia boss should.

Tsuna had to suppress a snort at the thought. Guess he was so used to Reborn's training he was already thinking up punishments for himself. With Natsu resting in his ring and Moka running away at least it left him alone, to think for a while. Well, mostly alone.

"You guys, you never learned to keep your nose out of the business of others, did you?" he asked as he turned back to the nearby treeline with a too calm to be genuine expression on his face.

In response, with a frightened scream four people jumped out from behind the trees looking at him in shock. It was no surprise that it was Yukari, Lambo, Tsukune, and Kurumu since he should have known they would try to listen in. Thankfully judging by their confused looks and the distance between them they didn't hear much about their argument since, despite emotions running high, both Tsuna and Moka kept their voice relatively low. It was already a stretch for him to explain some things to the vampire, involving the others would be a step too far.

"Tsukune, Lambo," he called out to the two males, causing them to stand up ramrod straight, a nervous expression on their faces. "Extra training tomorrow for the two of you and If you don't leave soon,' he said pointing at Yukari and Kurumu. "you gonna join them whether you want to or not. Got that?"

All of them paled at his words and promptly ran away, leaving him finally alone. Even then, he caught the worried looks Yukari and Lambo sent him and he couldn't help but smile at them.

"These guys." he sighed a little fondly as they scurried away. Finally, alone, he began to walk away as well but he only took a few steps before he lost his balance and fell to the side. Thankfully there was a tree next to him that he used to brace himself then put his back to it and slid down, sitting on the ground.

He was finding it hard to breathe properly, sweat began to break out on his brow yet his face gone pale. He placed a hand on his chest, feeling it burning from the inside, and bit down a curse. He knew he would pay for his earlier loss of control but thought he could deal with it.

„Effects of that medicine already wore off?" he muttered to himself as he closed his eyes as pain racked through his body. he remembered Arikura saying that medicine was nothing but a temporary shop and even though he felt in the last few days a lot better than during the last month, he should have known that anything that made his flames react would place him back to step one.

He thought about approaching the headmaster for help but soon decided not to for the time being. He still knew nothing about him and his intentions, so he couldn't trust him, Add to the fact he already had him in his pocket so to speak, since he owed him a favor and was aware of his origins and could out him anytime, Tsuna felt it would be better to add anything more to use against him.

He sat there for a few minutes, trying to let the pain subside and gathering up his strength. Natsu gave a sorrowful sound from his ring that Tsuna understood was his way of apologizing for forcing himself out of the ring but there was no need. This temporarily physical pain was better than losing his temper and saying something he would regret later.

Sighing, he looked up at the sky. The sky above the school always gave off a feeling of wrongness, especially during the night, but even in the morning he just felt he wasn't looking at the real thing. There were no clouds in the sky, the sun was hidden by the trees above him and as he looked at the sky, Tsuna all of sudden felt a great sadness overtaking him.

"An empty sky, such a lonely existence." he murmured, deep in thought as he slowly stood up. For a moment he thought about those simpler days where all he had to worry about was whatever idiocy Reborn cooked up and trying to get out of being Vongola Decimo. Where did it take him? He was no longer Decimo but still felt like he had more problems than ever. With a shake of his head, he dismissed the memories, concentrating on the here and now.

As he began to walk away, in hopes to arrive to school before the first class, he did not notice the spot where he previously stood covered by various cracks forming a spiderweb, as if something very heavy was there.

-0-

"Target confirmed." a young female figure murmured as she lowered her binoculars, watching Tsuna from a nearby rooftop. "He seems a lot more handsome than I thought." she said to herself, placing a bandaged hand on her chest.

"So that's the former boss candidate of the all-mighty Vongola Famiglia." a male voice sneered from the shadows with arrogance. A small male stepped closer to the edge of the roof, his long spiky hair falling on his back, two larger spikes in the front forming some kind of horns."You sure that's our guy? He looks way too harmless for someone who supposedly defeated hard cases like Rokudo Mukoru or Xanxus of the Varia. I'll bet he would die just from a simple graze." he boasted to himself as he flexed his hands.

"Nonetheless we can't afford to underestimate him. He bested foes who were stronger and better prepared than him because they did not think he was enough of a threat. We can ill afford to do the same." a third, deep voice spoke up from behind the two, causing them to turn to the speaker.

Not far from there a small mountain of a man sat calmly, towering over the two other figures even while sitting. The school uniform on him seemed to hardly able to contain his overly muscular mass. The other two bowed their heads at his way in respect, clearly marking the large man as the leader of the group.

"Don't forget this is our chance to get into the big leagues and gain the favor of the new Godfather of the mafia." he continued, eying the others seriously, though he continued to speak softly."We caught a lucky break by finding him so soon in this hidden corner of the world but don't think it's will be the case for long. We have to strike fast, not giving him or anyone a chance to interfere, understood?

"Yeah, yeah, got it." the younger male said with a careless shrug, avoiding the large man's eyes.

"Meanwhile I just found something interesting that could be used to our advantage." the girl said who continued to scan their surrounding from the roof.

She was watching Tsukune and the others walking away from Tsuna, not willing to anger him. She had her focus on the boy not far from them who was also watching them from the shadows, his focus specifically on the cyan-haired girl.

"I'd rather we not move until we have all the relevant information." the large man cautioned, standing up and walking to the edge to get a good look. "So for the time being I need you to control yourselves. No attack until I give the order." he declared turning to the short male.

"You got it, boss, it will be a piece of cake." he boasted as the three of them retreated to the shadows.


	11. The deadly case of deadline

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The deadline closing in on the newspaper club, just when they seem to be falling apart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cover: The newspaper club sitting in a newspaper office with Gin wearing a hat that had the label editor on it, shouting orders at the others. Tsukune was trying not to fall over, balancing a huge stack of documents in his hands, while Kurumu sat at a desk, looking like a typical secretary, sending heart-shaped glances to the black-haired teen. Yukari and Lambo were lounging around the water cooler, talking while each of them was holding a cup of water. Moka, in a beautiful suit, was sitting in front of a computer, shyly brushing a lock behind her ear, a picture standing next to the computer, sowing Ura Moka grinning. Next to her, Tsuna was leaning on her desk in causal clothes, holding up a camera, laughing at something.

Tsuna stared a little dumbly at the older teen standing before his door, eyebrow raised in obvious confusion.

"What do you mean I got mail?" he asked dumbly. It's not like the school had a real, usable address, something he knew should have raised a red flag in his head when he applied to the school. That was the reason his mother could not send the pack Reborn sent him but had to ask Lambo to do it, so the idea was more than suspicious to get mail out of nowhere.

The tall teen standing before him was a second year, a classmate of Gin if he was not mistaken. At first glance, unlike a large part of the school, he looked like a genuine, normal human. He had a thin frame, looked as if a larger wind could topple him over but he had a straight, confident posture. He had an average, freckled face, shoulder-length ginger hair that framed his face, and brown eyes. He lacked even that otherwordly beauty and charm that some monsters, like Moka, Kurumu, and even Gin displayed. He was just simply average. Instead of a school uniform, he wore some kind of post office uniform, similar to what he saw on TV once in an American show.

"This arrived yesterday evening for you." he explained with a polite smile as he held up a large package without the lightest strain on him."There are not a lot of people who got a post out here in school, but there some youkai clans who are too isolated or just see no point to invest in human inventions like the telephone, so they needed a way to reach their children. Also, in case a student needed something from home, there was a need for a way to send those items here and not to overwork the bus driver. Though it's not really advertised, large and old families aware of the system built by the headmaster and most people send it the same way they sent their applications to the school but it's get redirected to our office."

He looked very proud as he explained about this post system, something that Tsuna heard about for the first time since he came here. It didn't sit well with his inner mafioso that something significant like that escaped his attention when he surveyed the school and the various people in here.

"What office you are talking about." he asked, not making any effort to mask his curiosity as he took the box, surprised for a moment by its heavy weight. Thankfully he was also a bit stronger than his size and age would suggest but he soon decided to place it down next to him as he turned back to the older student.

"Well, the office of the post office club, of course." replied far too cheerfully the teen wearing a postman's uniform.

"Post office club? I don't even remember finding something like that on the after school activities club's day." he replied blandly, eying him with faint suspicion. He did make sure to take stock of every possible club for the sake of finding the sanest bunch where he could weather the storm that was called the youkai academy safely. Of course, in further inspection, the newspaper club was also not represented, save for their sensei's shameless plugs, though at that time they only had one member so that may be the reason.

"Of course, unlike other clubs, not everybody could join, but only those chosen after a series of trials." he started to explain passionately, a fist in front of his chest."The work of a youkai postman is perilous and synonymous with danger. Only those who are faster than the tentacles of a Kraken, stronger than the jaws of a dragon, more stubborn than an oni, and outsmart even a vampire can even hope to be chosen for the responsibility of handling the packages placed in our care. Many don't even survive their first assignments, their will, and life leaving them, their mission unfulfilled. Only those who have the wits of a kitsune, luck of a leprechaun, the stamina of a centaur and the tenacity of a mighty griffin could deliver their packages to their clients." he stated, flames of dedication surrounding him, Tsuna absently wished that someone like him never accesses the dying will flame. After a whole minute of continuing this tirade, he calmed down, as if a switch has been pulled in him, handing him a paper."Please, place your signature here."

A little bemused, Tsuna took it, carefully looked it over before placing his signature at the correct part. He handed the paper back and was about to say something when he caught a short 'have a nice day' before the postman in front of him disappeared. Leaning out of the door, he just caught him at the end of the corridor, waving cheerfully before he went down the staircase.

"That was fast." he mumbled in surprise, blinking once to make sure he saw what he saw. It was certainly almost as fast as Gin was during the full moon.

Closing his door, he decided to shelve the idea of looking into this post office club some other time. It could be useful one day if it was ever needed but right now he had no reason and had more important things on his plate. Nonetheless, it could prove to be of use.

"Now, let's see what have we got here." he murmured as he carefully examined the package that was sent to him.

The package was not so much large, more like it was wide and heavy. He surveyed it with great care, trying to find evidence of tampering but found none. His hyper intuition also didn't feel off in any way which was usually a great indicator if there was any danger to him. He remembered narrowly surviving an assassination attempt of a similar idea a year ago. He was sent a package that was filled with some kind of lethal air-borne poison. It was only thanks to his own hesitancy due to his intuition screaming in danger and Gokudera's expertise thanks to his sister's influence saved every one of them from death. Safe to say, after that he was a lot more careful and paranoid in every aspect of his life.

Finding nothing out of the ordinary, he finally turned to the most important information the sender of the mysterious box. There was no name that he found suspicious at first but easily realized the reason where he found the address it had been sent from. It was an Italian address, one belonging to a dummy corporate that was used as cover by the Cedef. That and the fact that he found nothing off about the package meant only one thing.

"You sure were busy, Lal Mirch." he murmured in awe, as he went to open the package, still cautious just to stay on the safe side.

He figured out quite early on that his Vongola Hyper Intuition did not react to every possible danger, especially those that had no ill-intent behind them. That was why, even when he had the Vongola ring and was the height of his power so to speak, he was still caught off-guard by Reborn's traps many times. His mentor did not mean to kill him but to teach him not to rely on his intuition to the exclusion of everything else, and he thought something similar could be easily expected from Lal Mirch too.

Still, it was remarkable. Lal mentioned that she would work in finding a method of communication but he thought it would be a lot more time before anything could be sent to him. Oh, he was sure that she was through enough that no one knew of what she sent, where she sent the package, or even who sent the package in the first place. She was after all working for a spy organization and she was not formerly part of the strongest seven for nothing.

Opening the package, he found no hidden surprise which was a thankful reprieve. It was one thing to expect it to be boobytrapped but even then he was in no mood for dodging deadly projectiles, outrun a bomb, or anything outrageous like that. Instead, he found a phone of all things, a small book, a thick dossier, and an expensive-looking watch, all wrapped in bubble foil. And below all of them, he found another slender box.

As he pulled out all the items he also found a short letter from the Arcobaleno that explained each of the items and their significance.

The phone was made to be able to call from the youkai world where his school was located and also be as untraceable and shielded from listening as it could be, using the best of technology available to Cedef and a little help from Verde. The phone was nothing special at first glance but he trusted Lal's word enough to know it would work as described. The phone contained Dino's number, Squalo's for some reason, and Lal's, though she warned him to only call her in emergencies since it was a little harder for her to stay under the radar if he constantly harassed her with inane questions.

The small book was actually a weathered, old journal written by none other than Daniella, the Vongola's Eight Generation boss. At first, Tsuna had no idea why Lal sent it to him, why did she risk since it was doubtlessly some kind of priceless artifact of the Vongola, but as he read into it, he understood.

Daniella when she became a boss, faced a lot of opposition because of her gender, her age, and her decision to participate, albeit in the shadows, in World War Two. She had a small-scale Mafia civil war at her hands, and she wrote a lot of information from those times, what to look for, what tactics worked, and so on. She intended it for her descendants so they could fight a lot wiser if a similar situation occurred during their reign as the leader of Vongola. Doubtless, Lal thought that if the civil war brewing behind the scenes became reality he would be involved without a doubt and he needed an edge for himself, hence the journal.

The dossier had most of the information he heard from Lal and Dino when they last met, with a little more detail and a few more disappearances and suspicious movement that happened since that time. Thankfully no one he knew personally disappeared but it didn't help things. He knew what it meant, they wanted him ready and informed so he could make the correct course of action if it came to war.

Part of him wanted to resent them for it, for dragging him back to that dark world, but he couldn't. It was he who chose to use the dying will on Tsukune, it was he who approached them for help. He knew that even without Dino and Lal encouraging it, there was no escape for him. He was still the descendant of Vongola Primo, a possible heir, an obstacle in Massino's eyes. And who knew what many other famiglias would do to have the blood of Vongola under their control? He knew it was the correct course of action, but that didn't mean he liked that fact.

The other box contained a very new and dangerous-looking sniper rifle of all things, with a small note from Lal about never being too prepared. Tsuna felt a sweatdrop form on his hand, while Reborn tutored him in the use of a limited amount of small firearms, he never touched a sniper rifle, especially of this caliber in his life. Not to mention, at the core he still preferred close combat where he could use his abilities to the maximum. With a shrug he hid the rifle under his bed, thinking maybe it could come in hand someday.

His eyes went to the last item he got, the watch. At a further inspection, he found the emblem of the Cavallone family engraved on its back, which meant it came from Dino and he was overcome with a curious feeling of peace just by holding it. He felt his tense shoulder relax a little, but not enough to dull his instincts. It was caused by the watch and he also felt dying will flames when he stopped and concentrated. His eyes quickly moved back to the letter, searching for an explanation.

He finally found at the end, where the handwriting changed, showing it was written by the Cavallone boss.

_"Tsuna, the watch is made of flame-conducting metal and was filled by my sky flames before I sent it to you with Lal Mirch. If you remember, my flames had also a large amount of Sun flames in them, making them a very good healing flame. I sent it to you in the hopes that my flames' harmony factor along with the sun's activation would connect with your flames and would help your body fighting off the poison until we can find a final cure. I have no idea how successful it will be since we have little information about the poison or about the dying will flames in general and I don't want to tip off anyone by searching around the Vongola. Please stay safe, little brother."_

The young descendant of Vongola Primo looked on the watch his eyes for once betraying the many emotions running within him. Embarrassment at having to depend on others' help, happy to know he had those he could depend on thick and thin, and hope that maybe his body will not fail before he can be cured. He knew he could not pour into words how much it meant for his unofficial older brother to go so far from him, but he had a feeling the Bucking Horse knew very well, he was always good at reading him since they started out so similar.

"Thank you." he murmured reverently to the empty room, gently holding the watch before he placed it on his right wrist.

The effect was small but noticeable. His body seemed less tense as if it was fighting less against itself and even his flames responded positively, probably recognizing the familiar sky flame. Natsu gave a loud purr from his ring, causing a rare, soft smile to touch his face.

"I know buddy." he said to his long-time partner as he began to put away the rest of the items Lal sent him, pocketing the phone in case he needed it."It's nice to know we are not as alone as we thought."

A moment later he was closing the door to his room, a half-asleep Lambo trying to escape his grip in a futile manner, and went in the direction of Tsukune's room to wake up the black-haired human teen. If he was not mistaken he promised both of them extra training for trying to eavesdrop on him and Moka.

-0-

With a grunt, Tsuna raised his arms, barely able to block the kick sent to his midsection. He feared for a moment that his arms would break from the sheer power of the kick but thankfully he was only pushed away, almost losing his balance in the process.

Haiji smirked in challenge at the former mafioso before he rushed at him again, not letting Tsuna get any breathing room. He had to rely on his intuition and reflexes to the maximum just to able to dodge the numerous punches sent his way, several of them grazing him despite his best efforts.

Both of them wore traditional karate gis, and they even had a small gathering of spectators viewing their spar, the few early risers of the karate club who decided for once to join their captain on his morning training.

They were a sight to behold that much was true. Though Tsuna stayed mostly on the defensive through their spar with Haiji charging ahead as some unstoppable juggernaut, yet he had a hard time scoring a clean hit on the slippery brunette. The few times Tsuna attacked, his strikes were precise and went through the tall teen's defenses before he could even notice.

Despite the different styles they used, in terms of damage, they were somewhat equal which meant the spar, in essence, became a battle of attrition which Tsuna started to slowly lose. While he was stronger than he looked his endurance was still not on the level of Haiji who was an abnormal stamina freak even among most youkai which meant if he wanted to win he needed to change tactics.

Suddenly stopping his retreat, Tsuna tilted his head to the side, a powerful punch went through the place it had been a moment ago. At the same time, he moved forward, getting close to Haiji, not wanting to give him time to continue his assault.

The older teen's eyes widened a little at the sudden risky attack but he was already moving to counter that but that was exactly what Tsuna was waiting for. Grabbing the retreating arm he used it and all of his leg strength to jump up and over the large karate club captain, using his leverage and weight on his arm to unbalance him as he sailed over him and landed behind. Not pausing for a moment, he turned with his whole body, lashing out with his right hand, putting his whole weight into the attack for the maximum punching strength.

Everyone watched in awe, believing that there was no way for Haiji to block that attack. Yet, the large teen showed that it wasn't just brute strength that earned him the title of karate club captain. He twisted his body, his hand lashing out and blocking Tsuna's fist just before it made contact with his face.

The two fighters and everyone else just stood still for a long moment. Tsuna met the older man's eyes, both of them trying to get their breathing back in control, sweat running down both of their faces. Then the moment was over and they both smirked at each other before stepping away and giving a traditional bow to the other, ending their spar.

As the other members crowded around them to praise them and talk excitedly with each other about the fight they witnessed, Haiji experimentally clenched and unclenched his fist, showing that while he may have blocked the last attack it was able to hurt him. Tsuna meanwhile rolled his shoulders, trying to ignore the tired protests from his body. The older teen could punch like Ryohei, maybe even stronger, and even a glancing hit could deliver a large amount of damage.

"As expected of you Sawada, no hesitation and no holding back." Haiji said laughing as he stepped next to the smaller teen, patting his shoulder in praise and almost sending him to the ground by the sheer power behind it.

"You are one to talk about holding back." he grumbled as he straightened out, though there was a small smirk on his face."Still, it was fun, been a while since we have a spar like this."

"Agreed, though it would have been even more interesting to fight with our full power don't you think?" Haiji asked, laughing loudly. "Still, if you joined our karate club we would spar much more frequently." he offered. It was something they did every time, Haiji offering a spot on his club and Tsuna instantly denying him, saying he would rather remain in the newspaper club.

"Thank you but no." as usual he denied the invitation, turning around and walking toward the dresser room. "It's nice to let a little steam lose from time to time but I'm no battle junkie like you." he told him without turning around.

"Now that's something I don't believe." but nonetheless Haiji let him go, turning to his club members with a predatory grin."Now, since I'm warmed up quite nicely, it's time to train seriously. Who wants to go first?" Tsuna wisely decided to completely ignore the screams of agony coming from the dojo.

A few minutes later, after he showered and dressed up in the school uniform, Tsuna waved Haiji goodbye as he carefully maneuvered around the broken bodies of the karate club members and went to pick up Tsukune and Lambo.

Before he went to the karate club's dojo to spar, he left them at the clearing they usually trained at with a new, improved, and deadlier obstacle course for them to go through since he promised them extra training and it wouldn't do to make a liar out of himself.

He did not have to fear that they did not do their share of work without his supervision. Lambo, knew very well how he would react if he decided to try and skip it, so with a healthy fear of him ingrained into the young kid, he would run through as instructed. Tsukune, on the other hand, may not have the fear of God put into him, but he was serious enough about wanting to become stronger that he would do it without a doubt even if he cried and screamed all the way. He was a pretty dependable guy in that sense.

When he finally arrived he raised an eyebrow as he looked around. It looked as if several bombs went off in the clearing, making the place almost unrecognizable, full of larger and smaller craters that gave off ominous-looking smoke. Lambo was sitting next to a tree, knees were drawn close to his chest, his eyes unseeing. He was muttering to himself, swaying in place. Tsukune was next to the largest crater, facedown, ash covering his whole body. The only evidence he was still alive was the occasional twitch of his body.

"You guys went farther than I thought." he said as he surveyed their surroundings, impressed."And I didn't even warn you about the mines that I put up yesterday. Nice work." Tsukune began to say something but it was muffled because he seemingly didn't even have the strength to lift his head."You say something Tsukune?" Tsuna went even as far as to poke him in the ribs with his foot, enjoying his student's pain.

Suddenly the black-haired teen got up as if he wasn't even injured in the first place, grabbing the surprised Tsuna's collar and began to shake him as tears poured out of his face that was full of ash and dirt.

"Why? Why did we have to go through that hell? We almost died several times, we should have died. What was the point of that death trap!" he demanded, continuing shaking Tsuna despite his expression turning from surprised to annoyed.

He would have continued if Tsuna suddenly hadn't grabbed his hand forcefully, the shock making him lose his grip on the brown-haired teen's collar. He made to take a step back but Tsuna didn't let go of him, forcing him to look at him.

"You are alive aren't you? I don't see what the fuss is about. Your injuries are looking worse than they actually are." eyes wide, Tsukune began to pat himself down and found he was in a better shape than he thought. He didn't know it, but Tsuna was sure it was his slowly awakening dying will flames that were hard at work. "If this course was so hard why didn't you use the dying will pills? I made sure you had enough on you before leaving you here, so why didn't you use the one thing you had access to?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

Tsukune only gaped in shock at him, the idea obviously never entered his head. After a moment he closed his mouth and looked again at Tsuna, his brows furrowed in confusion.

"But, you didn't, you didn't say I could use it." he stuttered out in the end but only managed to further annoy his trainer.

"So what? I never told you not to use it." he countered before he made an annoyed sound and turned away from him."Do you think I'll always be around to tell you when to use your damned power? Think again. You entered the dying will state enough times to be aware of its effect, its constraints, and its weaknesses. After that, it's up to you, to know when to use it, when your normal body is enough and when it isn't. So don't go complain to me when you don't use that thing in your head called a brain." he ranted angrily, before turning to Lambo who was still in shock."Lambo!"

Hearing his name, the young boy quickly jumped up, hands reflexively grabbing a grenade from his person. He turned to Tsuna and while the annoyed expression on his face did not promise anything good, he was still not an enemy so he slowly lowered the weapon.

"I didn't do it. I don't know anything about chocolate pudding and what happened to the pool." he cried out in defense, babbling on as sweat appeared on his face. Tsuna felt his eye twitch as he cut him off.

"I don't care as long as whatever you did won't come back to me." he said, fighting the urge to massage his head. "More importantly, why didn't you use Gyudon? You are perfectly capable of summoning him and his defensive abilities far surpass your own." he scolded him, the young Bovino in response pulling on his necklace which had the lightning bull's animal ring stringed on.

"I didn't think." Lambo muttered, his head lowered, and tears visible in his eyes. He was always a crybaby but Tsuna also found that nowadays he really tried hard when he asked something of him, so it stood to reason that Lambo didn't like disappointing him.

Reaching forward, he patted Lambo's head who sniffed but in the end calmed down. He turned to Tsukune who also wore a complicated expression.

"Well, that's fine. Just do better next time." He began to walk away, lazily waving with his hand, telling them to follow him."Come on, we should hurry if we want to arrive at class on time."

Tsukune and Lambo shared a dumbfounded look at the quick change in behavior from their friend before hurrying after Tsuna.

They had had yet to leave the forest surrounding the school when Tsuna stopped suddenly, turning to the black-haired teen with a serious look, addressing him.

"Tsukune, from now on I can help you a little, give you direction but you are at the point where I can't fight your battles for you. If you want to move forward, you have to find the resolution in yourself, because if you can't, death will be your smallest problem." his words had their intended effect, in unnerving Tsukune. Tsuna turned back to the path they followed, gesturing the others not to fall behind.

-0-

"Now that I think about it, the newspaper deadline is two days away, right?" a freshly showered Tsukune asked as he, Tsuna, and Moka walked into homeroom.

Things between Moka and Tsuna while still not perfect were moving in the right direction. Moka sometimes still acted hesitant and wary, Tsuna made a less than usual effort to talk to others but they were doing slightly better after their talk yesterday.

He was happy that slowly their normal dynamic is getting back but part of him desperately wanted to talk to either of them about what they were talking about. At Kurumu's urging, and because of his curiosity they tried to eavesdrop on the talk between them but they were too far away and Kurumu and Yukari began to argue with each other, making him hear even less. Worse, after some time Lambo intentionally began to make noise as if he didn't want them to learn anything of what Tsuna and Moka were talking about.

He only caught a few words, like something about Moka's sister, Tsuna's past, there was something about an ancestor and maybe middle school? Unfortunately, he heard very little and without context, it meant very little but he also had a healthy caution against angering Tsuna or Inner Moka so he stayed silent and tried to enjoy the slightly less tense atmosphere.

"You are right and unfortunately we have a lot of work if we want it to be complete in time with the addition of the results of the full investigation into the activities of Ishigami-sensei." Moka stated, sending a gentle smile at Tsukune, who immediately blushed and looked away. He may be trying to get over his crush at Moka and be a friend to her but she was still a very beautiful girl and he was a hormonal teenager."It would have helped if we weren't in a rush to complete it at the last minute."

"Cannot be helped." said Tsuna as he walked in front of them with what could be almost called spring in his steps."We had a lot of tests during the last week and even if Nekonome-sensei would have liked it otherwise, our school work is still more important than our club activities. Well, Tsukune has to work twice hard if he wants to pick up the slack." he mentioned with a small grin, pointing at the suddenly pale teen.

"Wait, why just me?" the young teen cried out in dismay, but it only caused Tsuna to smirk and Moka to giggle at the funny situation.

They would have continued chatting with each other but when they reached their desks, all three of them were surprised to find a letter within an envelope decorated with hearts resting on Tsuna's desk.

"What's this?" the young mafioso murmured as he carefully picked up the letter, only finding his name on it.

Unfortunately for Tsuna, Moka being one of the most popular girls in the class and the school, her arrival turned enough attention in their way that others also began to notice this new development.

"No way!" a student of average looks who sat two seats behind Tsuna gasped as he also noticed the letter. "Sawada got a love letter." he announced to the class, everyone immediately converging on Tsuna who was getting increasingly annoyed by the sudden attention.

"That's not fair. He already has the attention of hotties like Moka-chan and Kurumu-chan and he even got a love letter. He's not even that good-looking. Popular guys should just die." cried out a less than handsome boy, tears falling from his eyes as he glared daggers at the brunette.

"Maybe it's a love letter from Moka-san? That would be so romantic." a girl squealed as she talked with her friends, Moka who overheard her began to resemble a tomato as she gaped at them.

"Leave some girls for us, you bastard." one of the less popular guys mumbled as he slumped at his desk."I want a girlfriend too."

Tsukune couldn't help but smile at the fact that once it was not him in an embarrassing situation but Tsuna, a part of him feeling it was heavenly retribution for all he did. Turning to Moka he addressed her with a light-hearted tone.

"Tsuna-san is popular that's for sure, isn't he, Moka...-san?" he asked, halting at the end as he finally looked at the pink-haired vampire properly.

Her head was lowered and there was a too sweet to be genuine smile on her face. Worse, some kind of black aura surrounded her, the sight of it sending off every instinct in every male around her, telling them to run as far away as they can. The only exception seemed to be Tsuna who chose to ignore the chatter around him as he observed the letter, though he had yet to open it.

"Yes, Tsuna-kun sure is popular. I wonder who could be trying to confess in such a lame manner." she said with a dark chuckle, turning to Tsuna who finally looked up and raised an eyebrow in question.

"What's the matter with you?" he asked from the girl, completely missing the whole thing. Tsukune fought the urge to gape, Tsuna was usually noticed many things, things he didn't but for some reason, he couldn't see the clear signs of danger around Moka.

Before either Moka could answer or Tsukune could think of a way to avert the coming disaster, Nekonome-sensei entered the classroom, telling everyone to take their seats and reminding the members of the newspaper club they had to work hard after class to meet the deadline, much to their chagrin. Tsuna simply shrugged, deciding it was not worth trying to understand what went in the head of a girl. He placed the letter into his bag, intending to later read it in private to find out what it had been truly about. Tsukune and Moka followed suit, taking their seats, soon the whole class calming down.

None of them noticed someone watching them in a speculative way, not even Tsuna who usually didn't let his guard down even in class. She was a little shorter than Kurumu, with a small stature but a bust that was almost the size of Moka's. She had short brown hair with green highlights that she wore in a messy bob hairstyle and green eyes. The most noticeable thing about her was that both of her hands were bandaged up until her elbow, and looked like they went through a lot. Other than that she had a small tattoo on her neck, only a few lines visible, barely peeking over her collar.

She had a predatory glint on her eyes as the former boss candidate of Vongola answered a question by the teacher in a bored monotone, unaware of an enemy so close. The plan was put into motion.

-0-

"Tsukune-kun! Did you miss me?" chirped Kurumu as she glomped the still easy to surprise teen. It practically became a routine between them, Kurumu jumping on Tsukune whenever she saw him, pushing his face into her chest, almost suffocating him, and preventing him to greet her back.

"Moka-nee, Tsuna-nii, how was your day?" greeted them with a big hug Yukari, who was walking and arguing with the succubus before they noticed the three of them walking in their direction.

It was after classes, all of them heading to the direction of the newspaper club's room to work all afternoon on their papers, so they could meet their deadline. For once, the core of their club didn't meet up at lunch since Kurumu was held back by her teacher because of her low scores and Yukari was asked to tutor a few of her classmates and she spent the lunch break with them, helping them, so if they ignore the early morning walk to the school this was the first time all of them could meet up.

"Yo." Tsuna greeted her, looking a little distracted as he was deep in thought, his mind still thinking about the letter he got earlier today. He was never in a position to receive a love letter, so he had no idea what he should do with it. Coupled with him being a human, the lies around him, the possible danger from the mafia world, and even the poison still in his body, he doubted he was what others called a catch. That's not even taking into account that the letter was possibly a trap to lure him away.

"What's wrong Moka-nee?" Yukari asked, leaning a little away, and looked at the vampire with furrowed brows. Like Tsuna, she greeted her a little half-heartedly, but the pout she still wore on her face was much more obvious.

Neither teens answered her, though both of them were aware of the current issue between them. The timing was not good since they only just began to mend their friendship after Tsuna began to open ever so slightly to her. In the end, it was Tsukune who answered after he was finally managed to escape the clutches of Kurumu,

"Tsuna-san got a love letter today." he said, though immediately hid behind Kurumu when the brown-haired teen shot him a venomous glare.

"Really, a love letter?" the succubus asked with a raised eyebrow, looking a little bewildered."How cliche is that? Did she also ask you to meet her after school behind the school building?"

"No, you can't!" Yukari ignored her words and immediately began to wail on Tsuna, hugging him around the waist."You can't let just some kind of hussy seduce you like that and stand between you and Moka-nee. You are supposed to date her and marry her and give me little nieces and nephews." she said, quickly moving away from the entire point. Both Kurumu and Tsukune sweatdropped at the fact that the witch already had the life of her two friends planned out.

Moka blushed at her words, looking away, absently twirling her fingers. She didn't understand why she was bothered by Tsuna getting a love letter and possibly gaining a girlfriend, let alone why Yukari's words embarrassed her. Tsuna was a dear friend of hers, even despite the doubts she began to feel after her sister's letter, nothing more even if she liked to be around him and his blood was so addictive.

 _"Geez, that little kid already thought of everything, didn't she."_ Ura giggled inside the seal, further shocking Omote, who wasn't used to hear such open displays of emotion from her other half _."I have to admit, despite finding that little group of yours a little annoying most of the time, they can be hilarious."_

Omote could not say back anything, only looking at the ground, trying to will it to swallow her whole. Tsuna similarly felt like things were slipping out of his control, pinching the edge of his nose, before grabbing Yukari and giving her a noogie, her hat falling during the process.

"No, let me go!" she complained, trying to break free of his grip, but physical strength was not one of her better characteristics, the former mafioso easily holding her up and off the ground with only one hand.

"Then stop with these ridiculous notions of yours." he said with a huff before letting her go, giving a glare to the far too amused pair of Tsukune and Kurumu, wondering when he mellowed out so much. He thought the betrayal of the Vongola and his father hardened him, made him so paranoid and untrusting that he would rather keep his distance from others, yet here he was, with this little group worming their way into his heart. "Also, it's not like I was going to accept this confession anyway." he added before he began to walk, forcing the others to hurry after him.

"Really?" neck almost hurting from the sudden movement, Moka immediately turned her face to Tsuna with unusual intensity in her gaze. In response, the teen just gave a sigh and deadpanned after Yukari and Kurumu also repeated the question.

"Do I look like an idiot?" he asked them with a raised eyebrow."It's almost guaranteed to be a trap of some kind. We are after all in Youkai Academy where trouble always seems to follow us. Just think about the day the clubs advertised themselves or when we first encountered you." he said, pointing at the witch and succubus who looked away in embarrassment."By this point, it's a simple survival instinct to expect the worst from everyone."

"But what if it's a real confession." Moka found herself asking without thinking about it, blushing when Tsuna stopped and looked at her.

"I will simply tell her I'm not interested. I don't make excuses for who I am and what I am like and I don't feel like having a relationship with someone that just watched me afar instead of trying to befriend me." there were some unsaid reasons too, the both of them aware of it. He had many secrets surrounding him, that he was hesitant or unwilling to tell even his closest friends here, so he wouldn't do for someone he just met.

"That's a shame." Kurumu said with a melodramatic sigh as her shoulders slumped forward. "It would have been more interesting if you already had your eye on someone else, someone you couldn't be with because of social status, or maybe you had a sweetheart back at home, waiting for you." she immediately brightened as she attached herself to Tsukune, who was barely able to keep standing."Oh, well, more romance for me and Tsukune-kun, then."

"You have a way too active imagination." Tsuna said with a sweatdrop.

"So you won't even hear the writer of the letter out?" Yukari asked after looking between Moka and Tsuna uncertainly as they neared the room of their club.

"I will, after the club activities. She apparently knows I'm busy with the newspaper club and asked to meet after. If she is sincere I will gently reject her if she is not, well," he gave them a smirk that freaked all of them out, his hand moving to play with Natsu ring, his partner silently agreeing with him."I will be on my guard."

This topic was finally laid to rest as they reached the clubroom, Gin already waiting for them, sitting at the teacher's desk, leaning back the seat, and resting his legs on the top of the desk. He looked up impatiently as Tsuna who was walking in the front of their group opened the door and stepped in.

"About time you got here." the older student greeted them with a glare, waving them in."We have a lot of work to do, we don't have time for you to do dally around." he scolded them as they all piled in, taking their seats at their desk, where already the needed equipment was waiting for them.

"Then shouldn't you work instead of just ordering us around like a rundown mangaka?" Tsuna snapped back in reflex as he took his seat, sending a challenging smirk to the werewolf.

"The relationship between Gin-senpai and Tsuna-nii is like a dog and a cat, constantly fighting." Yukari murmured in awe as she watched as the two of them start to trade barbs.

„That's a very accurate description." Tsukune agreed with a small smile. Considering that Gin was a werewolf and Tsuna had his partner, Natsu who was some kind of lion cub it fit all too well. Though it reminded the black-haired teen that Tsuna has yet to explain what Natsu was exactly, save for the broadest terms, saying they were connected by his own dying will flames.

"Enough chit-chat, let's get to work." Gin declared, slamming his hands on his desk as he finally stopped arguing.

"Let's do our best, everyone." Moka chimed in a smile, the others echoing her thoughts save for Tsuna who only wore an amused expression and got to work. After all, they had a lot to do.

-0-

"I can't take this." Kurumu complained as she stretched her arms above her, her back already hurting from leaning over their desks which were pushed into one big one for all afternoon. Though privately, Yukari grumbled that the succubus back hurt more because of those inflated balloons she calls her chest.

She was not the only one exhausted, the others were in similar states. Even Lambo, who joined them a little later and was coerced in helping out a little by Tsuna and Moka, one ordering him, the other offering him sweets, was already sleeping on one of the desks, drool coming out of his mouth. Moka, the one who was the most enthusiastic out of all of them and the one who tried to keep up their spirits was also too tired to do anything else than staring at the paper in front of her, trying to will it to finish itself.

"Who would have thought making a newspaper was so hard." Yukari commented as she gathered a few of the papers in her hands, her hat off her head and smart-looking glasses on her face for some reason."In the first place, it's hard to make time for it when coupled with our continued education, let alone when we are in a hurry because of the deadline."

"Please spare me the sob stories until we are finally done with all the work." Gin grumbled as he took a paper from Tsukune, looking over it, his right eyebrow twitching in agitation. "And why am I even working with you? My job should be to look over your work." he demanded, after being coerced into joining their little circle and doing actual work, instead of drinking coffee and ordering the others to work faster like a proper editor.

"Because if you don't take your part in it, I'm gonna inform the school administration and most importantly, the female members of various sport and martial arts clubs of your favorite peeking spots and I will also send Haiji after you, saying you want an all-out spar with him." Tsuna informed him with a wicked smirk as the werewolf shuddered at the simple thought of it happening to him, enjoying the sight."Ah, blackmail, what a wonderful invention of humanity. Really, where would the world be without it?" he asked, wiping away a mock tear from his eye.

The others shared a look between them, for a moment uncertain if they should speak about the morality of blackmailing their upperclassman. Then they thought how much work they had to do if Gin didn't help out at all and decided to throw away their morals at least until they finished with the newspaper.

"You heartless traitors." Gin cried out, tears pouring out of his eyes as he saw them figuratively throw him into the fire.

"Let's look this way, the more we can finish today, the less work we have for tomorrow and the day after." Moka said with a large smile, trying to keep the others' spirits up even if she also was tired and a little grumpy.

"Well, as long as I'm with my beloved then no matter what I will be fine." Kurumu said with a dreamy look on her face as she latched onto said teen, flustering him and making him drop the paper in his hands. Moka began to look annoyed as Kurumu began to nuzzle her face into Tsukune's chest.

"Please do try to stay focused." the vampire ground out, her smile turning strained as the succubus continued to ignore her. Tsukune looked like a deer caught in a headlight, his head rapidly turning between the two women."Kurumu-chan, are you even listening to me?"

"I'm not letting you steal Tsukune away from me." she declared as she let go of her destined one in favor of stepping close to Moka, inadvertently pushing their breasts together that was an instant ko for Gin who was flung back with a geyser of blood coming from his nose. "He may have chosen you over me on his birthday but I won't accept it. I won't lose to you Akashiya Moka and prove to Tsukune my love for him." she whispered to her with a resolute look in her eyes as Moka began to get flustered by her words.

"I don't, I mean me and Tsukune, that is, it's not the point." Moka murmured with a light blush dusting her cheeks completely caught off-guard by the accusation. Kurumu was about to give a victorious smirk when both of them got a firm karate chop to their heads.

Grabbing their heads, more in reflex than in actual hurt, both girls looked up who attacked them. Almost looming over them, even though he was only a little taller than Moka, Tsuna looked at them in a deadpanned stare, his hands held up, ready to give out a new round of chops.

"Are you quite done with the melodrama?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, while Yukari began to rouse their president back to life."We have work to do, so if you could continue it after, it would be appreciated."

The worst thing was he didn't raise his voice, didn't do anything threatening save for the rather gentle hits. It was more like disapproving, making the two girls feeling like little children who got caught trying to steal from the cookie jar. Without a word both of them took their seats and began to work quietly, much to the surprise of the others.

"Scary." murmured Tsukene to himself, not wanting to draw any attention to himself.

Unknown to them, as they went back to work, someone was keeping a close eye on them, on the cyan-haired succubus in particular.

-0-

"There you are my beloved." a squeaky voice said with adoration as a young boy sitting on the branch of a distant tree, looking through a camera. "You are as beautiful as always, I cannot wait for our time together." he said with a lewd tone.

He was average in looks with brown, almost shoulder-length hair that was parted into two parts in front of his face and a little creepy smile on his face. His eyes were almost closed, he seemed to constantly squint and for some reason, he was constantly sweating even though it was getting quite cold. He wore the school uniform and like Tsuna and his friends, was a first-year, member of the photographer club as evidenced by the camera he was holding. His name is Kano Nagare and he is gonna get what he wanted.

He was in love with his goddess, the moment he first laid his eyes on her, the first pose she made for him to eternalize. She was perfect in every way, in every measurement and he could barely stop himself from drooling even just imagining her in various outfits. But he bid his time, watching from afar, her promise burned into his mind, waiting for the perfect opportunity. An opportunity he was provided with a silver platter.

"If you are done perving then get down and do your part before I got bored and kill you." a bored voice into his observations, but the killing intent hiding behind it made him shudder and rather than complain, decided to follow the speaker's direction, lowering his camera and jumping down from the tree.

Standing before him was a rather small young man who stood out even more with his dark skin and silver hair. His hair was short and spiky, with two larger spikes forming shapes resembling horns on the top of his head. He had black eyes and an ugly-looking, vertical scar just next to his right eye, giving him an even more menacing look, accompanied by a frown. Despite not looking much physically, his appearance never failed to bring a shiver to Nagare's spine.

"I understood." he murmured, even as he grit his teeth and seethed inside, wanting nothing more than killing that little upstart ordering him around.

He was aware that he was not a very strong monster, he didn't have the protection of anyone but he had something that very few had. Blackmail. Thanks to his abilities and hobby, he had enough dirt in enough stronger people that he felt safe, no one who had a reason was able to cross him thanks to his well-placed 'reminders'.

It was not the case with this brat and the bitch he was accompanied by. They cornered him, caught him off-guard while he was admiring Kurumu-chan. He had no blackmail on either of them, and the few men he sent after them for threatening him were easily defeated. He had no choice but to do what they said, especially when it was revealed he would get the girl he was watching for himself, so long as he did what they required of him.

He loathed being commanded like that, yet his survival instincts and the promise of the reward pacified him for the time being, making him play along with their little plan. But it didn't mean bygones were bygones. He would do his part but he will be watching, waiting for the time for them to lower their guard, to screw up and he will be there taking revenge. After all, it needed only a little carelessness for his poison gas to overwhelm and paralyze them. The brat would die quickly, but the other, the girl, he could see himself playing with her for a time, she wasn't on Kurumu-chan's level but she wasn't bad-looking at all.

It took all of his effort to stop the lecherous smirk taking over his face but apparently he was not as successful because the brat who was going by the name Shikaku though for some reason Nagare felt it was not his own, sneered at him, giving him a stare full of killing intent.

"I don't care what kind of perversions you have, you screw this up, you are dead. Got it?" he asked with a growl.

Nagare gulped and nodded before he walked away, to put his plan into action. Nonetheless, he swore not to forget the humiliation these people gave him and to take his revenge when his chance finally appeared.

-0-

"I can't feel my fingers." Tsukune mumbled as he dropped the pen from his hand as he leaned back on his chair, completely spent.

The others were in similar states of absolute exhaustion since they worked all of the afternoon, trying to complete as much of the work as possible. Still, even with Gin and Lambo helping out and all of them working hard, they had a lot left for tomorrow, much to their chagrin.

"Grape candy...The great Lambo-sama deserves the mountain of grape candy." Lambo, who fell asleep for a second time talked in his sleep, drooling on his desk, thankfully away from the important papers.

Their monotone suffering was broken momentarily when the door to the clubroom opened, a certain feline teacher stepping in with a large smile, holding a small bag.

"Is everyone working hard? I brought snacks." she said as she looked over them proudly, seeing them furiously working together.

"Nekonome-sensei, welcome." Gin welcomed him, sipping from the coffee he got for himself as a short break, while the others echoed the greeting, though did not look up from their work.

"How is work going? I see you made a lot of progress." she said kindly. handing over the small bag to Tsukune.

He opened it, shocked to find raw fish instead of any normal snack. He was about to make note of it when Yukari and Moka's rapid shake of head deterred him. It was well-known that if you point out any overly cat-like characteristics to her, Nekonome-sensei tended to act two ways. Either would she act oblivious as if it was natural or get mad and try to claw up your face, a fact many of their classmates learned. It was just easier to get along with her.

"Thank you, Nekonome-sensei." Tsuna thanked her with a diplomatic smile.

"Ah, before I forget." she said, pulling out a small letter that she promptly handed to Kurumu. "This letter was left before the door, it seems to be addressed to you." she gained a wistful look on her face."It's so romantic. I remembered during my time in school when all those boys practically fought over themselves to try and date me." she trailed off as she began to mumble to herself.

Tsuna simply looked away from their sensei, who was in the middle of some kind of daydream. She was a typical ditzy airhead so he doubted there were too many boys fighting over her or he had the youkai world pegged wrong. Instead, he watched Kurumu from the corner of his eyes, something telling him that the letter she was given was more than any of them thought.

The others went back to work, wanting to finish as much as they can, or simply not caring about the letter in the case of Lambo and Gin as Kurumu opened the letter with a light, confused frown on her face. So it was only Tsuna who caught her eyes widening in shock as she pulled out some kind of picture, paling rapidly as whatever it meant reached her.

Panicking she thrust the letter and its contents into a nearby toolbox, nervously fidgeting in place, biting her lips. It was something that disturbed her, Tsuna was sure of that, and for a moment he thought about looking into it, but soon discarded the thought. For the time being, he had a lot on his plate, as long as nothing was really wrong, there was no need to involve himself. Unfortunately for the succubus, her strange behavior was noticed by one more person.

"What's wrong Kurumu-chan?" Tsukune asked kindly, noticing her nervous demeanor. He stepped next to her, about to place a hand on her shoulder when to his surprise the cyan-haired girl flinched and stepped away from him, wrapping her arms around herself.

"Nothing, there's nothing wrong." she tried to make a convincing smile, but it fell flat. She looked around, not knowing what to do when she spotted the open door. "Sorry, I remembered I had something to do urgently, so I'll be taking off, ok?" she asked hastily, even as she grabbed her stuff and made a beeline to outside."Take care of the rest for me." without waiting for an answer she left, hurrying toward a certain tree behind the school.

"But what about the deadline?" Tsukune asked the thin air, completely stupified. The others also gave surprised blinks, not knowing what gotten into the succubus.

"Something happened to Kurumu-chan?" Nekonome-sensei who remained to chat and encourage her students asked obviously, head tilted in confusion.

Moka opened her mouth to say something but she was distracted when Tsuna stood up and began to gather his belongings. At her and the others' questioning look, he rolled his eyes.

"We worked most of the afternoon, we wouldn't accomplish much after that, only tire ourselves out. I have a meeting I have to go to, so let's continue it tomorrow." he said, referring to the love letter he got earlier today. He still felt a little apprehensive about that but decided to bite the metaphorical bullet and see what awaited him. No matter the outcome, he would be ready."See you guys tomorrow." with one last wave he left as well, heading toward the meeting spot, behind the cafeteria.

It was quite an interesting spot. Out of place enough that even if they met in the middle of the day not many people would pay attention, but still close enough to more busy spots that if something happened like a fight broke out or similar, it would be noticed easily. It was as if his mysterious admirer was almost as paranoid as him, something that didn't bode well.

So busy was he thinking that an important detail was unnoticed by him. A very familiar werewolf was watching him with narrowed eyes, following him from the shadows.

-0-

Tsuna arrived at the meeting spot leisurely, since he still had time and found that someone was already there. A girl was sitting on a tree branch, humming to herself some kind of slow tune with her eyes closed, looking for all intents of purposes at peace.

The former mafioso stopped, just within her hearing range, not making any move to turn attention to himself, instead deciding to obverse the girl. She had brown hair with green highlights in it. She was also very developed despite her short stature. She was vaguely familiar, Tsuna was almost positive she was a classmate of his, though not one he interacted with at all, to the point he wasn't even sure of her name.

He liked to think that after the tutelage of the likes of Reborn, he was pretty stealthy but he only took a step closer to the girl when her eyes suddenly snapped open, bright green eyes peering at him. At the same moment, a jolt ran through Tsuna, making him tense up as he suddenly found himself on guard. The girl was dangerous, he didn't need his hyper intuition practically screaming to tell him that.

"You're here. I'm so glad." the girl said with open joy, that would have fooled him if he wasn't already suspicious of her. Thanks to that, he saw her right hand tensing for a moment and caught the brief spike of killing intent aimed at him, causing him to quietly curse. So much for things ending up peaceful.

She jumped down from the branch, somersaulting, showing how well-built her body was, landing in front of him without any difficulty. She dusted her skirt down, before turning to him, her smile seemingly never leaving her face.

He watched her with narrowed eyes, assessing her. She looked harmless at first glance but no one was who they showed themselves, that was the truth both the mafia and the youkai taught him. The bandages on her hands looked worn, she was probably some kind of martial artist, a close-range fighter to be sure. Thankfully he had his dying will pills on him but he was unsure how long would he fare with his current condition.

"I don't like beating around the bush, but I'm pretty sure it's not a confession." he addressed her as he stared her down with his patented boss glare. A flicker of uncertainty showed in the girl's eyes before it disappeared so fast, he thought he imagined it."What do you want from me?"

The unknown girl pouted at him and he would have found it cute if he wasn't sure it was mostly an act and he will have to fight her as soon as they stopped talking.

"Huw rude, dismissing the feeling of a young maiden without batting an eyelash." she said in mock-sadness before she gave him a rather dark grin as she took a few steps closer to him. Tsuna did not back down but tensed, readying himself for a possible fight."Is that how the Vongola teaches its heirs how to treat a lady, mister former heir." she asked with a small giggle.

'So she is from the mafia. That complicates things.' he thought as he forced himself to stay calm. It would have been better if it were some youkai with a grudge or something like that, as much as youkai are physically better than humans, he had enough tricks up his sleeve to at least get away. But with someone from the mafia, it's better to assume that most of his abilities are well-known.

"Ara, what a scary face." the girl giggled at him, not at all intimidated by him, not that he was surprised by it. She seemed confident and currently, she held all the cards, so it was not completely unwarranted. "But where are my manners? Please call me Mei of the Todd family, it's an honor to meet you Sawada Tsunayoshi-kun." she gave a deep bow but never took her eyes off of him, which glinted with mischief.

This last bit of information revealed by Mei managed to throw Tsuna further off. The Todd family sounded vaguely familiar to him but other than that sense of familiarity nothing came to his mind, which was bad. Reborn made him learn as much as he could about any major family in case he ever encountered them alone. Wha was worrying no information came to his mind about that particular family, which meant he had no idea about their motives or their modus operandi.

He felt Natsu softly growl from his ring, making him subtly relax a fraction. It felt good to know that even though he was a lot weaker without the hyper dying will, he was not defenseless and he wasn't alone.

At his lack of reaction, Mei straightened up and pouted up at him while pointing a finger at him in annoyance.

"What's with this reaction?" she demanded, stomping the ground angrily. Tsuna noted that the ground was slightly cracked after a few stomps, confirming his decision to not engage her in close combat if possible."You should be shocked, encountering the member of the famous Todd Famiglia, shaking in your boots at the thought of crossing me and swooning at my ethereal beauty."

Feeling a headache incoming, Tsuna lamented the fact that ever since he first met Reborn, his life was full of stranger and stranger people. His guardians, the Varia, so many people connected to the mafia but even his current friends weren't excluded. He really wanted, for once, just once, to meet someone relatively normal.

"Ignoring all of that," he began, disregarding her little tirade, much to her dismay." you still haven't answered. What do you, the Todd, want from me? And how did you get into this school? As I understood it's a little hard to enroll as a human." that he and Tsukune was live exceptions to the rule was left unsaid. Hopefully, Mei and her accomplices, since he doubted she was alone, knew only of him and not Tsukune. Or Lambo for that matter.

In response Mei began to giggle, placing a hand over her mouth to muffle the sounds but it did a very poor job. It did nothing but increased Tsuna's annoyance and impatience.

"You are wrong on several accounts former Vongola Decimo-san." she was baiting him, trying to rile him up with the constant reminder of his former position. Thankfully, he had better self-control than to play her game but it did not mean his patience was limitless."First of all, despite what you think, I am not a human, indeed you belong to this school a lot less than me." she smirked as his eyes narrowed, pleased to elicit a reaction from him.

This did complicate matters, Tsuna thought as he kept his eyes on her. If she was a monster, anticipating her moves would be a lot harder since the abilities youkai showed up until now were diverse, maybe even more than the different applications of the dying will flame. Add to that she was probably familiar with his own fighting style, placing him at even more of a disadvantage. He knew that some youkai worked in mafia families, but he thought he wouldn't encounter one so soon.

"Also, please understand I'm not here under the Todd's orders. Indeed, it was merely a coincidence that I realized who you were, probably wouldn't have if you weren't hanging around the school 'idols'." she continued, probably to keep him off balance. Worst, he wasn't sure what she was playing. If she wanted to attack him, she would have ambushed him, but here she was chattering away."Not like there is much left of the Todd family after you almost ruined us when you stole the ranking prince from us." she stated, her tone quickly turning venomous as she glared daggers at him but made no move to attack him just yet.

Now that she mentioned it, he began to remember something. Stole the ranking prince? Weren't the Todd family the ones who were hunting Futa when he first found him. They were a pain in the behind back then but in retrospect, they were no serious threat. To be truthful he kind of forgot about them and what happened to them, since they were a minor and isolated family. Maybe the isolation has something to do with working with youkai? It's one thing to employ youkai but a lot of the traditionalist old farts who still held power in the mafia would probably not see it in a good light.

"Is that what you are after? Revenge?" he asked a moment later, his body tensing, ready to move the slightest indication. Still, his intuition did not indicate he will have to fight. There was danger, yes, Mei was a definite danger but it did not look it will end in a fight right now.

He was once again surprised when Mei lost her angry look and began to laugh, going so far as to hold her stomach as she hunched over. This conservation was getting a little tiring for him.

"No, no, you got it wrong. Revenge? What could it accomplish besides a lot of work for nothing?" she asked when she calmed down but she didn't wait for his answer, continuing without pause."Now, if we are talking about doing something that gives me profit, that it's really a different matter. Pleasure and business work well together, after all." she gave him a look that may be meant to come off as seductive but it only further put Tsuna on his guard.

He was tired and wary of her speaking in circles, not answering his questions directly. What did she want? Did she mean to attack him? Then why all the theatrics? Did she want something else? What could she hope to gain, he had almost nothing. These questions ran circles in his head the entire time and he had enough.

"Get out with it already." he snapped out, losing his patience. He never had much patience for the politics of the mafia, really any kind of machinations, and it didn't change.

Instantly Mei stopped, putting on a neutral expression that did nothing to stop the dangerous vibes coming from her. Tsuna for a moment thought she was gonna charge at him but then she shrugged her shoulders.

"Have it your way, Vongola-san. I propose a trade, to stop me from informing any other interested parties of your current whereabouts. It's simple, don't you think? Get me what I want, and your life will remain peaceful."

"And what is that you want?" he asked back with narrowed eyes.

"The Vongola's most prized secret, the dying will bullets." she explained with a triumphant expression."That power, along with my youkai powers would make me stronger than anyone else in the mafia world, no one would able to stop me. And don't try to lie that you don't have anyone. I was keeping an eye on you and your little group of friends, so I know you have access to them." she grinned when he audibly cursed under his breath.

He tried to stay under the radar as much as he was able but being friends with a very beautiful vampire with split personalities and a human who seems to attract trouble is not very healthy. Still, he had no idea there was anyone on campus, other than him, Lambo, the bus driver, and the headmaster who had connections to the mafia world, so admittedly, he had gotten careless.

"And what if I refuse?" he asked, body tensing as he pulled out his hand from his pocket, holding a dying will pill. While he was not very enthusiastic about his chances, he wasn't about to just give up.

In response Mei simply just laughed once again, looking at him as if he was an idiot for even thinking about refusing.

"You don't want to do that, Tsunayoshi-kun." she stated with a smug smirk."From what I know you are a tricky opponent to face, that's why I would prefer to simply milk you for all you are worth instead of fighting you directly, but I doubt you could best me. You didn't use your powers directly in the school, either because by choice or because you simply can't. Either way, my job would be easier." her smirk turned cruel as she continued."But I don't even have to attack you directly. Don't you care about your little friends? The human that follows you around like a puppy, the Bovino brat, that stuck up witch, or that little vampire trollop friend of yours? Who do you want me to target? Can you keep all of them safe, all the time?"

Tsuna gritted his teeth, staying silent. It was true that his friends were vulnerable in that sense, especially since he has no idea what kind of powers she has. She may as well have some kind of subtle power that they would never notice being used until it was too late.

There was something that felt off to him. No matter how confident she was in her powers, targeting his friends, and the theory he wasn't able to use his full powers, that ploy was too bold for one person. He was sure she was not working alone, which made things a lot harder. He had no idea how many other people are involved, so he once again found himself strapped into a corner.

He was able to avoid he was getting careless, gotten used to these peaceful days with Moka and the others and he had acted less paranoid. If Reborn was here, he would scold him for going soft.

"Well, no need to make you guess if I have a perfect target at hand, right?" she started to say, as she held up a picture that shown Kurumu of all people."It's so unfortunate that your little succubus friend of yours is currently away from your other buddies and spending time with a friend of mine for the foreseeable future." she gave a mocking smirk to him as she threw the picture in his way."Hopefully, nothing bad happens to her."

Tsuna stayed silent for a long moment, admitting that he was completely overplayed. It was a very, very small consolation to have confirmation that she was not working alone. The question was, how many of them were there?

"I understand." he agreed in the end, despite his reluctance, seeing no other way out. At least for the time being.

"See, it's not hard at all." Mei giggled and began to hop from one leg to the other in some sort of victory dance."And to show we are not entirely unreasonable, let's see, tomorrow around the same time we will make the exchange, what do you say? Just some of the most prized bullets for your anonymity and safety, easy right?" she asked before turning serious a moment later, making Tsuna somewhat even more wary by her quick turnarounds."And before you think of anything funny, we make sure to entertain poor Kurumu-chan until we seal the deal so let's keep it between us, okay?"

He could do nothing but reluctantly nod, he was completely out of moves. Though he didn't plan to involve the others in the first place, since they could easily keep an eye on them in case he tried to get their help. That meant he was alone, as usual.

Before he could respond, suddenly Mei was right in front of him, kissing his cheek with a mischievous glint in her eyes. Instinctively he jumped back, even as a bit of red appeared on his face. She was fast, he was barely able to detect her moving and couldn't react in time.

Seeing his look, the girl laughed to herself, placing her hands behind her head in a carefree way before she turned around and began to walk away without bothering to look at the former mafioso.

"See you around, former Vongola Decimo-sama." she called back mockingly before disappearing.

Tsuna stayed in that place, staring ahead with a blank expression, thinking furiously at the situation he found himself in. He didn't like it all, he was backed into a corner, outgunned, and apparently outsmarted. The girl, Mei alone was someone who could be hard to handle in his reduced dying will state, and thanks to the poison in his body and without hyper dying will his options were severely limited.

A soft growl came from Natsu's ring, causing Tsuna to let out a small smile and pat it affectionally.

"I know buddy, we are in a really bad spot." he said to his partner before looking up at the sky and a determined look showed on his face."But we are not out of tricks just yet."

"Man, why did I have to stumble into something troublesome," a certain upperclassman with his heightened senses was able to stay unnoticed by both Tsuna and Mei complained as he walked away, hands in his pockets. Though he didn't hear everything and what he did hear, there were some parts he didn't understand what they meant, he got the gist of it."Now I can't even walk away, knowing one of my kouhais in trouble." he gave a roguish smirk to himself as he ran a hand through his long hair."It's quite tiring being a dependable senpai."


	12. Preparations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cover: Mei in school uniform sitting on a tree trunk humming to herself is shown from above behind her, her shadow is stretched out with four arms and the silhouette of a rather scary smile

"Tsuna-nii, is something wrong?" Lambo asked, rather subdued for him as he watched his big brother figure silently staring at the phone in his hands. He was like this ever since he came back to their room, much later than Lambo, who stayed behind to help Moka and Yukari tidy up in the newspaper club though not by choice.

'Moka-nee is very scary.' he thought to himself, trembling as he remembered the otherwise kind vampire giving him a cold smile that even made him freak out, despite growing up within the mafia and being known for being thick-headed.

He was getting a little worried, Tsuna didn't react for the 4th call of his and that meant to the young hitman it was time for drastic measures.

"Tsuna! Play with me!" he laughed boisterously, jumping at the Tsuna's back, intending to annoy him, just like he did when he was younger and the young mafioso was too busy to play with him.

Without even looking in his direction, Tsuna reached out and grabbed him before he could reach him, showing only the smallest struggle with holding him up with one hand.

"Lambo, just what do you think you are doing?" he asked with an eery voice as he finally turned to look at Lambo who gave a guilty smile.

"You were gloomy and silent and you were just staring at your phone like a creepy guy." at the teen's annoyed expression Lambo laughed to himself."You make so stupid faces, I couldn't help myself."

Tsuna looked away from him, deep in thought, before hurling him away with all his strength before he took a breath and forced himself to calm down. He looked at the still laughing kid for a moment before giving a sharp smile.

"Lambo, how many weapons do you have here?" he asked, prompting the young hitman to stop laughing and looking at him with a confused frown.

"A lot. I have grenades, a couple of rocket launchers, maybe even a machine gun or two. Why?" he asked, not understanding why Tsuna asked about this. He sometimes used Lambo's weapon cache to train Tsukune or even Lambo himself but those times were mostly heat of the moment ideas. But the intensity in the older teen: a gaze told him it was for a far more serious reason.

"I ran into some trouble and I will need your help. Can I count on you?" Lambo looked taken aback by the question and for once took the time to seriously consider his answer before he gave a confident nod back. In response Tsuna let a soft smile appear on his face, giving the young boy's head a gentle pat. Then he turned to the phone in his hand, quickly dialing a number.

It didn't even ring for half a minute before it was picked up and Tsuna had to move it away from his ear with a grimace as a voice shouted out from him.

"Tsuna! Finally, my little brother called me! I was so worried when you didn't call, I was worried that the package didn't arrive at you. Your big brother was ready to cross over the sea to make sure you are alright, you should have called the moment you got the phone." Dino, the boss of one of the largest mafia families rambled on without any control."Did you get the watch too? Is it working? Do you feel better? Any negative effects?"

"Please try to act like your age." he murmured to himself with a sweatdrop before cautiously putting the phone to his ear when Dino stopped to breathe and began to speak."Yes, I've got the watch and it seems to help a little so thanks to that. Listen, I ran into a little problem and I will need your help." he stated, deciding not to beat around the bush.

"What happened?" suddenly completely calm and serious, Dino questioned him."Should I go to Japan, or send some of my men?"

Tsuna bit his lip as he thought about the offer. He was on two minds about it, a part of him, stubbornly refusing the idea of aid, not wanting to put his trust into others than himself, while the other was still like the civilian kid who was swept in this whole mafia business and looking for others to tell him what to do. But he was also aware that the situation right now was delicate enough that he couldn't risk his friends' safety by involving Dino too much.

"No, right now it would be more trouble than it's worth." he answered in the end."A couple of youkai who are involved with the mafia found me and blackmailing me but my gut says it's more than that. They are threatening to attack my friends who are aware of the mafia and they would get tipped off if you or your men appeared over here." not to mention he didn't know if Dino had the pull to even enter the school grounds since he had relatively little contact with this world."I need your help to look into two things. They claim they are affiliated with the Todd Family, please find out as much as you can about them."

"The Todd? They are a rather small family from what I gather and had been staying quiet for a long while." Dino mused out loud before he sighed."I understand. You know better than what the situation is but don't forget you can count on my help, you only need to ask. I look into the Todd, what was the other thing you wanted me to look into?" It was clear to all how much he didn't like the idea but despite acting all goofy, he knew when to act as befitting of a boss.

Tsuna didn't immediately answer, looking to the side deep in thought. Just as Dino on the other side was about to ask him what was wrong, he finally spoke up. His voice was heavy, filled with old hurt and resignation that sounded out of place in a teen's voice.

"Please try to check into if there is a bounty placed on me, probably among those who are unaffiliated with any famiglia so they could plead innocence. They probably were very circumvented about it but I doubt that there are no traces left, please try to find out the bounty's origin."

"From your tone, I gather you have a solid suspicion." his big brother commented, probably coming to the same conclusion.

"It has to be the Vongola, no one would have a big enough motive for it. The only question is who exactly is behind it. I particularly think of two people and I'm not sure which is the worse one." he commented quietly with a frown on his face.

Dino stayed silent for a moment, before giving out a sigh. Privately, Tsuna thought that Dino must have sighed a lot more since he knew him but with the mafia, it was not a sure bet.

"I'll look into it." he spoke up, sounding tired, something that Tsuna could sympathize with."Please stay safe and whatever help you need, please call me, okay?"

"Yeah, I promise."

After ending the call, Tsuna ran a hand through his hair, leaning back in his chair. He looked tired, not physically but more mentally and emotionally. He honestly enjoyed this slice of peace he had since he began to attend this school. They had some close calls but overall it was kind of nice if a little boring.

And now all of that came crashing down because his past kept chasing him. Worse, it's not even himself that was targeted but his friends were about to be included and that's something he could let happen.

"Guess some things didn't change. I still hopeless at refusing to be involved." he laughed quietly to himself before he looked at the side and spotted a slumbering Lambo who fell asleep while he talked with Dino. With a small smile he carefully picked up the kid who was not so small now and placed him on his futon before he went to his."You are right Lambo, no use worrying now. Let's get some sleep." he murmured mostly to himself.

-0-

"Tsuna-kun, good morning." Moka greeted him when Tsuna walked into class, just five minutes before class started, quite late for himself.

Tsukune looked up from his desk at the greeting, looking curiously at his trainer. Before he even had a chance to get ready for the day Tsuna showed up and told him that training would be canceled that day and then left him without any explanation. To further worry him, he looked tired, like he didn't get any sleep and was visibly distracted.

Even now it was still obvious. His hair that was a mess on its own usualéy looked even more haphazard, and there was a noticeable slump in his shoulders.

"Hey." he waved at them before a yawn overtook him."Man, I'm dead. Hopefully Nekonome-sensei lets me sleep during homeroom." he mumbled to himself as he sat down at his desk and immediately rested his head on it, indenting to sleep.

Moka frowned at the unenthusiastic reply before she stood up and walked to his desk. Tsuna was usually reserved and tended to remain the voice of reason in their little group but this behavior was unusual for him. Add to that, the things that happened in the last few days it was natural to be worried about him, right?

 _"You just want to know what happened with that confession, don't you?"_ Ura commented with an amused laugh from inside the seal, causing a light blush to appear on her cheeks. _"Though I will say he is unusual and intriguing, he is still just a human. I do not approve, so no funny business."_

With a furious blush, Moka began to shake her head out of nowhere, wishing desperately that she could talk back to her other self, without looking like a weirdo.

She still got a look from Tsukune who raised an eyebrow at her. Giving him a small smile, she turned to Tsuna, gently shaking his shoulder prompting him to lift his head and give her a bemused look.

"Are you alright, Tsuna-kun? Tsukune said you canceled training and you didn't look all that well," she asked, her worry overwriting any other thought, that definitely had nothing to do with the love letter Tsuna got yesterday.

"Nah, sleepy that's all. I had a few errands to run, that's why I postponed Tsukune's training. And with the work at the newspaper club, figured I could cut him some slack." he answered with another yawn, in the end, placing an arm under his head to keep it upright.

Where he sat next to Tsuna, Tsukune couldn't help but frown. Excusing him from training, wasn't something Tsuna did. Even when they were neck-deep in exams, or when he was just literally cured of a fatal disease, that taskmaster from Hell still demanded him to go out and try not to die. Something was going on, he wouldn't do this without any reason. And he could only think of one thing that could make him change his mind.

"What happened yesterday with that love confession? Did anyone show up?" he asked curiously and was a bit surprised to see Tsuna stiffen and frown before he quickly put an impassive mask over his expression. Moka on the other hand began to intently look at him.

Their class also quieted down and tried to hear the newest piece of gossip, with several guys already quite loudly planning to comfort the heartbroken Moka out of the goodness of their heart. The brown-haired teen didn't have to look back to feel the gaze of Mei burning into his back.

"No, I waited for like twenty minutes before I had enough and left. Waste of time that was." he said, putting on a carefree smile, to calm them down.

Moka frowned, finding something wrong with Tsuna's words but she couldn't call him out on it as Nekonome-sensei entered the classroom. She quickly turned and took her seat, thinking about her friend's strange behavior.

Just as Tsuna was about to try and doze off a little before Nekonome-sensei noticed it, his instincts suddenly screamed, causing him to straighten up in alert. A moment later he turned to the side, catching a paper ball that was thrown straight at his head. Looking in the direction it came from he met the amused eyes of Mei who winked at him before turning away.

Lowering his hand, he looked around but thankfully it seemed no one noticed the little interaction. After making sure no one was paying him any attention he examined the paper ball, unfolding it.

'Don't forget about our deal' was written on it, reminding Tsuna of the exchange happening later that day. With a frown he crumbled the letter and hid it in his bag, all thought about sleeping disappearing from his mind.

Just then he heard a faint voice, so soft that he barely heard it. It was familiar but for the life of him, he couldn't think of where he heard it before.

 _"I thought...anything...everyone..."_ the voice murmured, making him look around frantically but he saw no one speak, even as he heard the soft words like someone was whispering to him. It was definitely male, but sounded young, maybe a middle school student? He sounded distressed, and Tsuna felt an echo of an ache within him at hearing them. _"...this kind of power...make me...all those mistaken...I'll..."_

Soon the words stopped and Tsuna suddenly found himself breathing and sweating heavily, feeling as if he ran through a marathon. That voice was so familiar, it almost hurt but no one came to mind when he tried to concentrate on it. It was surreal.

'Just what's going on?.' he thought, bewildered as he proceeded to tune out whatever their teacher was talking about. It must have been something exciting to her because her tail was swishing wildly but Tsuna found himself unable to concentrate on her at all.

-0-

"Kurumu won't join us for lunch?" Tsukune asked with a small frown from Yukari when she sat down at their table with her lunch tray. Usually, Yukari and Kurumu came together since they were in the same class, and despite their constant arguments and little fights, they got along well.

Moka, Tsuna, Lambo, and he were already seated at their usual table and were waiting for the last of their group to arrive before digging in. It became a sort of routine that Tsuna couldn't say he disliked.

"She said she had some extra work to do for one of her classes, so she skipping lunch to finish it." the young witch explained, though she couldn't hide the frown on her face."Which is strange because I don't remember hearing anything about it before." While Tsukune and Moka shared a worried look, alarmed by the unusual behavior from the succubus, no one noticed the dark look that was gone a moment later from the brown-haired teen's face.

He doubted Mei and whoever was helping her would have done anything to Kurumu just yet. She was their bargaining chip, they wouldn't dare to do anything to her until they had what they wanted. It was more probable that she simply didn't want to show up because she felt flustered or something like that over what they must have had on her. It better be the case, because dying will or not, he will show them that it is not advisable to anger him, even if it kills him.

He shook his head, trying to shelve those thoughts for later. He had a plan to deal with these mafioso wannabes, and if he wanted t to work, he needed to keep his head in the game.

"I wouldn't worry so much." he spoke up, wanting to get away from this topic. "Anyway, we will meet her after classes at the newspaper club, so you can interrogate her about it. How is your tutoring going?" he turned to Yukari, referring to how she was asked to help a few of her classmates after their not so successful exams.

The young witch visibly brightened as she began to chatter away, happy to have someone who listened to her. Moka quickly joined in with a small smile and soon everyone stepped away from the topic of Kurumu except for Tsukune who looked down at his food with a frown.

The others' attention diverted, Tsuna leaned back on his chair, his gaze turning to Moka, more specifically to the seal on her neck. Recent events forced him not to pay attention, but Moka and the secrets surrounding her intrigued and alarmed him at the same time. On one hand, the word seal left a bad taste in his mouth after his flames were sealed as a kid, but on the other hand, he was also wary, wondering if there was a valid reason for Moka's powers to be sealed.

Until now he mostly stayed away from this topic, wanting to respect Moka's, both Mokas' privacy but his curiosity and paranoia always led him back to it. The most prominent question he had, seeing the seal basically controlled if Omote or Ura was in control, which one of them was the original Moka? The naive, cheery Omote or the somewhat more mature and controlled Ura. If either of them could be called the real Moka what does that make the other? A product of the seal?

It seemed he was too absorbed in his thoughts and stared for too long at the vampire because she noticed and looking at him with a large blush on her face, a hand reaching up and twirling a lock of pink hair in a shy manner.

"Tsuna-kun? Is everything alright? You are staring at me really seriously." she commented softly. Tsuna saw a soft glow coming from the rosary and Moka's blush deepened and suddenly she couldn't meet his eyes.

He looked away from her, scratching the back of his head, feeling strangely embarrassed at being caught staring at her. He didn't have to lo kat Yukari or Lambo to see the teasing grin on their faces and privately resolved to make their life hell if they tried to say anything.

"Sorry, kind of got sidetracked. I was just wondering that you didn't drink my blood in a while." he said, trying to think up an excuse but could only come up with that lame one. From the snickers coming from the others, it was just as weak as he thought.

Amazingly enough, Moka didn't call him out on it but instead wore a small smile as she looked up at him.

"I remembered that sometimes you get tired when I drink too much, so I thought since we all had to work so hard, I didn't want to make it harder for you." the next part came out in a lower voice as her gaze slid down to his neck. "And, well, after we finish the newspaper, it would be a sort of celebration to drink your delicious blood. It would be my own appreciation day." she declared cheerfully.

Tsuna blinked, feeling caught off-guard. Similarly, the others also could only watch in shock at the abrupt reason given by the resident vampire. The silence was broken when Tsukune comically faceplanted on the table.

"I, but that is, I can't even, he is not a bloody vending machine." he said with shock still evident on his face as he sent pity-filled looks to the brown-haired teen who stared back in pure annoyance. Tsukune privately thought that he was wrong that he envied Tsuna for being the target of Moka's appetite and resolved to be more supportive of his fellow human.

"So Moka-nee and Tsuna-nii will finally...it's too soon for my heart." Yukari mumbled with a beat red face, too far gone to contribute to the discussion.

"Ah, what's wrong, did I say something wrong?" Moka asked worriedly, her previous embarrassment forgotten.

"It's more the phrasing is the problem." Tsuna said, massaging his temples, trying to ward the incoming headache away."That and Yukari is frighteningly perverted for age."

Before anyone could say anything, Lambo who was struggling to hold back his laughter, finally lost the fight and burst out laughing in a loud, high voice that instantly attracted the attention of everyone still in the cafeteria who wasn't already eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Gahahah! Moka is gonna eat Tsuna! Tuna-sandwich! This is so funny.!" he laughed without any control until Tsuna had enough and hit him on the head, not enough to cause any real hurt but gave enough shock for the small hitman to stop laughing.

"I don't want to hear bad name puns from a broccoli monster." Tsuna said with an annoyed grin, reminding him of the old nickname that he got from I-Pin.

"Baka-Tsuna! I'm not a broccoli monster!" was the mature reply from the Bovino kid, which caused the two of them to bicker among themselves, ignoring the others.

"It's always so surprising how they can go from getting along to fighing with each other." Tsukune commented with a small laugh, mostly talking to Moka since Yukari was still in the middle of a daydream. "Must be nice, having a sibling." he said with a small wistful smile on his face.

"You are an only child, Tsukune-kun?" the vampire asked, her head tilted in curiosity, quickly forgetting the original reason the two of them began to bicker with each other.

"Yes, though I have a cousin who was sort of my older sister but ever since her family moved away we meet a lot less." he answered with a sheepish laugh, thinking about his tomboy cousin. "What about you, Moka-san?" he asked, curious since like Tsuna he didn't know about Moka all that much outside of school-related things,

"I have two elder sisters and one younger one." she answered with a smile."Though it has been a while since all of us had been together since I was sent to a human school before attending youkai academy. And even then, I didn't have that sort of easy-going relationship with my own siblings that Tsuna and Lambo have." she said, looking at the two of them fondly.

"Come to think of it, Tsuna's even more tight-lipped about Lambo than most of his past." the black-haired teen mused with a small frown."I mean he let small bits of his past out from time to time, but the only thing we know for sure about Lambo that he sees Tsuna as a brother figure and is from Italy."

Moka also had a small frown on her face as she watched them but she shook her head slightly, one hand going up to grab her rosary and she allowed a small smile on her face.

"Uncle! Uncle! I give up." Lambo's cries turned their back their attention to the duo, along with Yukari who seemed to wake up in the process. What they found caused all of them to sweatdrop. Tsuna was holding Lambo's arm behind his back, bending it until the young boy cried out with tears in his eyes.

For a moment everyone worried he is gonna break Lambo's arm but as soon as he gave up, Tsuna released him, Lambo cradling his arm but looking no worse for the wear. Looking up Tsuna met their shocked stares and shrugged.

"What? You do remember that he is probably tougher than most of you? He hardly felt a thing." he said, pointing at Lambo who indeed looked like nothing happened, busying himself with his food and ignoring everyone around him."See?"

"The relationship between you sometimes confuses me to no end." Tsukune admitted with a sheepish laugh.

Tsuna only shrugged, silently telling them that he considered the matter closed. He looked down at his tray, noticing that he ate his lunch with all the ruckus going around. He stood up, with the tray in hand, ready to leave.

"I'll have a few things to do, so I have to hurry along. I see you guys in class." he received a chorus of nods from the others, even as Tsukune and Moka shared a look. For some reason, Tsuna seemed especially busy today, what with his 'errands' in the morning, and even now after lunch. "If you feel weak or anything, just tell me, I'm not gonna die from the loss of a little blood, alright?" he asked, looking Moka in the eyes to convey how serious he was about that.

"Don't worry about it, I'm alright. I still have enough left of my supply and tomato juice helps a lot. Though it's not as good as yours." she shyly looked at him, unconsciously biting her lip. Around them, various people passed out with blood gushing from their noses at the picture and even Tsuna had to avert his eyes a little. "After the paper is done, can we?" she asked, uncommonly uncertain.

"Sure, it's a date." he said with a small laugh, turning around walking away, not noticing the full-body blush that overtook the vampire, nor Yukari and Tsukune trying to revive her.

-0-

"Today's the day, huh? Can't wait to see how it will go down." Mei said, giggling to herself as she leaned back on the fence of the roof. She was in her school uniform, though she had a few buttons of her shirt unbuttoned, showing a cleavage. "Wonder what sounds he will make when I get my hands on him?" she asked from herself with a haughty look on her face.

She and her two allies met at the same roof they watched Tsuna and his group a few days ago, using the lunch break to go over their plan, so no one would accidentally screw things up. The short Shikaku was next to her with a cigarette in his mouth and frowning at her.

"You are a psycho as usual. What do I want to know why are we even doing this complicated scheme? It would be way easier to simply kill him and cash in the bounty." he asked as he lighted his cigarette and turned to their last member. Their third member sat under the nearby shade, content on being silent and just watching for the time being.

"What are you an idiot? Didn't your mother teach you to play with your food?" the girl asked back with a savage grin that unnerved even Shikaku a little since he took a step away from her."It's the best when you strung them along, letting them believe there is a chance in victory. Then comes the fun part."

"You are wrong, that's not why we are doing this." their silent member said in a low voice as he stood up and stepped closer to them.

He was a mountain of a man with short brown hair. He was twice as wide as any normal person and he was so tall that he probably had to pull his head down if he wanted to use any normal-sized doors. He was heavily muscled underneath his school clothes, showed by how much his clothes struggled to contain him. He had a large scar going over his right eye that looked more like a crack in stone than a scar on flesh.

He had a small frown on his face and looked very intimidating. Shikaku who opened his mouth to retort immediately backed down, careful not to meet the giant's eyes, showing the power dynamic between them. Mei on the other hand, only gave him an innocent smile, not at all bothered by the hard look sent her way.

"Then why are we doing this, Saru?" she asked, putting a finger on her lip and tilting her head. The giant, Saru was not at all moved by the cute pose she showed.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi is not an opponent we can afford to underestimate. Despite his appearance, he was trained by the Arcobaleno Reborn and is a competent fighter." Saru began to explain, his rough voice as if rock crashing into other rocks."The key to our victory is to keep him off-balance, not giving him a chance to gain the upper hand."

"Then we should have just attacked him yesterday." Shikaku said, gaining back a little of his bravado."According to Mei, his responses were so slow, he would have no chance if all of us attacked. But now he had time to prepare, to know that someone is after him, so what was the point?"

Saru didn't look angered by the constant questioning, he really didn't show any emotion. He only looked silently at the smaller teen who once again lost his nerve and looked away before he spoke up again.

"Right now, he thinks we only want to extort him, not kill him. That makes him less likely to be able to put up a fight, especially if you and that pervert do your part and hold his friend hostage." he said to Shikaku who only grunted quietly."Aside from the prestige and wealth, his bounty will bring us, we have a chance to obtain the Vongola's prized secret, the dying will bullets and with that, we will have access to dying will flame technology."

"What's so important about the dying will bullets? Isn't our powers as youkai already put us above humans?" Mei asked him, not condensed, but moe curious.

"Those who use dying will flames at times could match or even defeat youkai. Now imagine that power in our hands." both teens began to smirk at his words, thinking how powerful they could become."In recent ways, a lot of new technology came up that strengthened this untapped power but it's incomplete, not suited for battle yet. These last years, everyone in the mafia hurried, trying to perfect this flame technology, and with the dying will bullets in our hands, using the Todd family, we could finally rise to our places."

"Then why are we working with those humans?" Shikaku challenged Saru, despite the frown on the larger man's face showing he was slowly losing patience with the insolent kid."Wouldn't it make more sense to act on our own, after we got those bullets from the former Decimo? With our own power, and with that spooky flame power we would be unstoppable."

He stopped talking when a heavy hand was placed around his throat, not tightening around it but reminding him how powerless he was compared to the other man. Saru glared down at him, simply the weight of his hand without really trying to, almost sent Shikaku to his knees as he looked up fearfully.

"That's because you are just a naive grunt who has no idea how the world works." Saru said with a low voice, while next to them Mei was also listening while cheerfully humming to herself."Both in our world and the mafia, three things can take you anywhere. Power, wealth, and tradition. If we are successful with killing the former Vongola heir and also acquire those bullets, our standing within the Todd will become greater. With the dying will flame, we will have power, we will have wealth thanks to the bounty and the bullets, and while the Todd is a small family, they have enough history that using them, controlling from the shadows, we will not look like upstarts and the older families would be warier in taking steps against us. And as long they don't think about cooperating with each other, and we will stay within the laws made by those Vendice, no one will oppose us. Understood?" he asked as he slowly released Shikaku who did fall to his knees after that, breathing heavily.

"I...I understand." he wheezed out, Saru giving a satisfied nod and stepping away from.

A moment later Mei was in front of him, leaning into his face with a devilish smirk.

"It's a pretty bold plan. But didn't you know that I was found and raised by the Todd family? What should I do with this information? Should I go and report it to the Boss?" she asked, giggling to herself.

Instead of being unnerved, the large teen just watched her calmly making no move to do anything, not even speaking up.

"Just kidding." Mei laughed as she stepped away and began to walk away."I owe them or you for that matter no loyalty. I don't care what your plans are, what methods you are using. The only thing I care about is being entertained. And if you prove yourself to be boring, I'll kill you." she pleasantly told them before she left them on the roof.

"That chick is screwed in the head, why are you so insistent on keeping her with us?" Shikaku asked, rubbing his neck as he stood up, though his legs were shaking.

"Because she is strong. And if my observations are wrong and Sawada Tsunayoshi is as powerful as they say, we will need her help." Saru replied calmly, though he had a frown on his face.

-0-

"That was fun." Haiji laughed as he swiped the sweat from his forehead. In front of him were three members of his club on the ground, hardly recognizable by the bruises covering their bodies, only able to give out pitiful whimpers as answers."A nice, slow spar is the perfect thing to do after lunch, to keep your body in top shape."

He got no answers from his club members who struggled to stand up but were only able to crawl. He was in the club's dojo, enjoying a nice after lunch spar as usual.

"You don't ever change, do you? A muscle-head till the end." a familiar voice drawled from the direction of the entrance, causing Haiji to turn towards it.

Standing at the entrance, lazily leaning on the door was Gin, smirking at the captain of the karate club. At first glance it was nothing wrong, Gin was his usual self but Haiji knew his sort of a friend long enough to instantly see something was wrong. He was tense and there was a hardness in his eyes that he didn't see since a long time ago. Since the trouble, the newspaper club had last year.

"Yo Gin, fancy meeting you here. Did you come here to have a nice spar?" he asked, as he stepped closer to the werewolf, despite his words, he had a serious face on. Gin shook his head as he stepped inside, stopping in front of Haiji.

"I'm not stupid enough to want to spar with you, you know that. I found something interesting and thought I share it with you." Gin left his smile as he met his eyes, showing how serious he was.

"That's a change. Just what could make Mad Dog Ginei so unnerved to ask for my help?" he asked back, keeping his voice low. While he trusted his club members, from Gin's expression it seemed serious enough that he didn't want to involve them.

"Some punks think they can mess with my club members and I thought about showing them how much of a bad idea that was. How do you feel about helping out a mutual friend of ours?"

Haiji gave a wild grin as he already knew who he was talking about.

"I knew that guy would be interesting to hang out with." he said, his right fist punching into his open palm."Count me in."


	13. On the verge of conflict

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsuna prepares for the battle ahead, while the newspaper club falls to pieces

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cover: The entire newspaper club is shown in military uniform, clearly preparing for a fight. Lambo excitedly waves around a rocket launcher, while Tsukune desperately tries to stop him. Yukari is at a table in the background, examining various explosives. Gin sat next to her, sleeping, his head on his machine gun. Tsuna is busy cleaning two handguns that look very similar to Xanxus' while Omote and Ura seem to argue at a table covered in various papers and a large map.

"Here are the items you requested. It was quite a lot of work to make it in such a small time frame but we made quite good work if I say so myself." a tall student with white hair than seemed to spike into the air and ended in green smirked at Tsuna as he handed him a small bag. He had red eyes and wore a white coat, he looked quite sinister."Though part of me had to wonder what do you need these specific items for on such short notice."

Tsuna could only smirk back as subtly changed his posture. It wasn't exactly threatening but he told him without words not to look into it too much.

"I get it, I get it. I better off not asking." the man who was the president of the chemistry club held up his hands in surrender, his smirk never leaving its place. "But don't forget to hold up your end of the bargain. Or you won't like the consequences ten billion percent.".

"Don't worry. The ad for your club will be in the coming edition of the newspaper as we agreed. I'm a man of my word." Tsuna promised as he bid the scientist farewell.

Looking at his watch he frowned as he saw that only ten minutes were left of lunch break. Quickly he began to speed up, he had a few more preparations to make before classes restarted.

While the situation was far from ideal, he wasn't without weapons of his own. These monsters wanted to keep him in a corner, threatening his friends, so he wouldn't step out of the line. His odds weren't the best, he knew next to nothing about his opponents and couldn't really predict their movements but the sane was true for them, any information they would have from the mafia would be outdated and next to useless.

He was prepared, as ready as he could be, yet Tsuna still let a frown appear on his face as he slowed down, lost in thought. He felt uncertain, not in the plan itself but the method he chose to execute it.

It wasn't right, leaving his friends in the dark and subtly manipulate them to take the steps required for his plan to work. It wasn't fair, not to Tsukune, who he had an obligation since he chose to take him under his tutelage, not to Moka and Yukari, and certainly not to Kurumu. They wouldn't have been in this whole debacle if he acted when he saw the first warning signs. But he was so full of himself, intent on keeping a distance between then, that he did nothing.

He should have acted as a true friend, he should have seen as friends, not underlings to be manipulated and ordered so he could reap the benefits. But that was what he did, that was what he planned to do once again.

His trust was already on shaky grounds with them, yet not even for a minute, did he consider simply being honest and asking for help. It was not how he did things, not how a mafia boss did things.

Tsuna abruptly stopped as the disappointed, sad gaze of a certain green-eyed vampire flashed in his mind, quickly followed a more hostile-looking red pair. It hurt, the thought that she, that they were going to be further disillusioned with him but he still chose to follow this path.

It was times like these that he missed the unwavering, soothing presence of his guardians. It was easier to tell right from wrong with them since most of the time whatever they wanted was wrong and everything else right. The unspoken trust between them, the camaraderie kept him on the right track.

Even though he didn't take the whole guardian thing seriously, he later understood just how much an effect their bond, their flames interacting and harmonizing had on each of them. Just as much as they calmed down somewhat and became less restless he became grounded and confident by the simple knowledge of not being alone.

But where once he felt that familiar bond, he could only feel an empty hole, an ache that never seemed to fade. He didn't know if it was because of the poison in his body, the loss of the hyper dying will, or simply his guardians going forward with their lives and leaving him, but he was sure of one thing. Being an empty sky was a painful, hollow existence.

Maybe it was time to realize that he was far more broken than he thought.

'If that is the Vongola, I would rather burn it down.' his younger self once proclaimed, vowing not to repeat the bloody past of his predecessors. Yet, despite those bold words, here he was, the very thing he swore not to become.

"I wonder, what would my younger self say if he saw me now?" he whispered as he started to elk once again, his decision made.

There was no way but forward, whatever happens, the die has been cast. He could only face the consequences, with his head held high.

-0-

'How dare he!' Kurunu fumed to herself, angrily wiping away the tears from her eyes as she walked away from the newspaper club, her friends. She was angry beyond belief, it was one thing to blackmail and humiliate her, she probably had it coming for how she behaved during the start of the year but to take away her friends' work, the thing they put their time and passion into, it was unforgivable.

"Kurumu?" a voice called out öt her and she was surprised to find herself coming face to face with Tsuna who had a bag hanging over his shoulder now that she thought about it, the teen was absent when they arrived in the club room, finding all of their work disappear without a trace.

"Tsuna." she greeted him, not meeting his eyes. "The others are back in the club room and they could use the help since there is a lot of work and as we all know I am unreliable." she whispered the last part with shame, then tried to walk past him, not wanting to see the expression on his face.

She would be hard-pressed to put into words the relationship they had. While Tsukune was her destined one, and Moka was one time a love rival of a sort, she and Tsuna were more distant. Sure they argued a lot, and sort of teased the other at times but she felt there was a constant distance between them. They had their friends in common for the most part, they didn't interact with each other before prompted by the others, save for that one time where he comforted her when Tsukune confessed to Moka. That was why she was so surprised when he put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her in place.

In his eyes, she found an understanding look, something that greatly surprised her. There was no judgment there, no anger. From the usually cold, aloof Tsuna it meant a lot, she knew.

"I don't know what situation you are in and I'm not gonna pry." he gave her a sarcastic smile, pointing to his bag."I mean I have my own issues right now, so I couldn't even help you but I tell you this. When you think you have no hope, no strength think very hard about what's important to you. Think of them, about the resolution to stay alive no matter what. When you reach a point that it's do or die, when you have your back to the wall, don't falter. Don't hesitate but grasp the power lying inside you, that dormant power that awaits the opportunity to be used. You are you Kurumu, not me not Moka, not even Tsukune. You don't have to be like us your power lies elsewhere. When the time comes, reach down within, shout out your resolution and show them your power. "he told her looking deep into her eyes. Kurumu almost laughed, hearing something so cheesy coming from him but the serious look in his eyes told her he meant every word

"Wh-What? "she stuttered out dumbly. She had no idea where it came from, nor how did he know that she was in some kind of trouble and she planned to fight to get back her and her friends' work. But it was kind of touching instead of telling her to leave it to others, that she was not good enough by herself, a thought that did go through her head at one point, he seemed to believe in her. It felt surreal.

"You heard me." touching moment over, Tsuna stepped away from her, turning to the directory of the clubroom, waving at her one last time."Good luck, Kurumu."

"Thanks, I guess." she murmured in confusion to his retreating back. For a moment she just stood still, bewildered by what happened before she shook her head and turned around. She had a certain creepy pervert photographer to hunt down.

-0-

As he stepped into the newspaper club's room the smile that Tsuna had plastered on his face fell away, replaced by a frown as he looked around, not liking the picture in front of him, especially when taking into account his talk with Kurumu.

Everyone was working furiously, almost falling over each other in a hurry, including even Gin and Lambo. Yukari was typing into her small laptop so fast that he could hardly see her fingers, Tsukune and Moka were writing and compiling various papers and for once it didn't seem like their werewolf president had to be blackmailed to join.

It looked very similar to what they did yesterday with one stark difference. Back then, the atmosphere was light, friendly, and cozy. Now it was tinged with nervousness and a sense of despair.

"What's going on?" he asked softly, not to disturb or scare them but loud enough to be heard anyway, his eyes roaming around, trying to find what caused the change. At first glance, nothing save for the members themselves looked off, which didn't make him feel relieved at all.

Tsukune's head shot up at his voice, a hopeful expression on his face which quickly disappeared as he only saw the brown-haired teen.

"Ah, Tsuna! It's just you?" he asked uncertainly while looking behind him as if hoping someone would pop up from behind him.

Moka also looked up giving him an uncertain wobbly smile, before turning back to her work. In the end, the explanation came from Gin who angrily gestured him to sit down.

"Sawada! You are late! Get to work, we are behind enough as it is, there is no time to dilly dally." he said, frowning. When Tsuna didn't get to work but walked closer to him, silently demanding an explanation, he let out a tired sigh as he ran a hand through his hand, frowning at his underclassmen."During the night, someone has stolen all of our finished work, leaving us with absolutely nothing on the last day of our deadline. We have to work all night if we want to have at least most of it done again." he was visibly frustrated, with good reason. What they lost was the result of all the work they did in the ground in the last few weeks, even since the newspaper club started to work seriously.

"What!?" he asked, for a moment caught completely off guard. Then he narrowed his eyes, trying to put together the pieces and not liking what he was seeing."Is that why Kurumu left all of a sudden?" he asked, though deep down he knew the answer already.

At first, he thought it was another move by Mei and her gang to coerce him into giving in to their demand but he quickly dismissed it. They already threatened his friends' lives, it simply wasn't needed. Not to mention, while he enjoyed and treasured the memories made in here, the newspaper by itself was simply not worth risking his, or others' life for it.

On the other hand, Kurumu was easier to manipulate, and this way just the kind of thing they would do so he could öt interfere and keep her away from their clutches. With Kurumu running off after whoever took the papers, she was outside his control, and at his enemies' mercy. It was a good tactic, using Kurumi's much more naive and impulsive mindset to their advantage.

Still, it worked well within the range of his plans, maybe making it easier for him to place the pieces into the correct place. As he thought this, he was once again hit by a wave of uncertainty, thinking about the moral implications of using his friends like that but again, he quashed it down, at this point he couldn't afford to make a mistake, there was no Reborn to correct him, to get him out of a tight spot, not anymore.

He was brought back from his thoughts by Moka as she angrily reacted to the mention of the Succubus.

"Kurumu was only here to be with Tsukune. Apparently, she wasn't our friend and she left at the first sign of trouble." she said but Tsuna could see her anger only served to hide her own hurt feelings. Not surprising, knowing her usual behavior.

Tsukune looked away with a frown and even Yukari lowered her head, hiding her face under the brim of her hat. While her relationship was not always peaceful with the succubus they were what could be called friends by some definition. Honestly, their friendship reminded him of Gokudera and Lambo sometimes.

On the other hand, Lambo only looked at him with a little confusion and worry. Tsuna may have refrained from telling him about everything, he understood enough of the situation to know that it was connected to whatever was going on with Kurumu. Still, neither could do anything, right now, not without sabotaging their plan.

With a sigh, Tsuna walked to the table the others were working on, patting Tsukune on the shoulder as he passed him, sitting down and grabbing the nearest paper.

"Wel, there is no use in crying about this. Let's just get to work." the black-haired teen was about to object when Tsuna met his eyes, silently telling him to let it go."After we are done with it, we will have time to talk about this but now it's more important."

Unsure, Tsukune nodded and returned to his work, the others following his example, none of them noticing the frown on Tsuna's face as he began to work silently, his mind going through a lot of different ideas and plans.

-0-

The large tree standing in the center of the school's country yard loomed over her as she walked toward it, her head bowed, her hair hiding her expression, shoulders drawn and tense.

She never liked, nor disliked this place before yesterday, despite it being a popular place among students, many standing their breaks in here, meeting up with their friends. She had her friends at the newspaper club, their shared lunches, and trouble they seem to regularly get into, and that was why now she could only look at the place with hatred in her soul. This place now reminded her of the creep who dared to blackmail her, to take away all of their hard work.

It was unforgivable.

Thankfully, the tree was a few minutes long walk away from the newspaper club's room so thanks to the walk there and Tsuna's words ranging in her head for some reason, she was able to at least calm down a little. She was no less furious than before but the hot rage cooled down, giving space to a colder, more vicious mindset.

"So you did come. I had a feeling you would Kurumu-chan." a squeaky voice sounded above her, coming from the object of her hate, his mere voice fueling her rage further. Even as she forced herself to look up at the soon to be dead boy, there was no hiding her immense disgust.

Above her, sitting on one of the larger branches of the tree sat the slimy photographer who, even now was molesting her with his eyes alone. He was Kano Nagare, someone she completely forgot even meeting before but was still not above using her, blackmailing her to his perverted, creepy ends.

He made one mistake and that was taking away the hard work her friends made. Blackmail, humiliate her, that was one thing but trying to use her friends, friends she only now realized how desperately wanted, that was too far. He signed his death warrant.

And in his hands were the fruits of her and her friends' labor, the almost complete newspaper, along with a disc containing their digital copy. He was holding it without a care in the world as if he didn't realize how much those papers were to her. It only served to enrage her further.

"Is that what you were looking for." he asked with a self-satisfied smirk, waving them in her direction when he noticed what she was looking at.

To further humiliate her, Nagare casually opened the paper and began browsing it, acting as if there was nothing with him stealing their work. Kurumu was a moment away from turning to her monster form, using her wings to get into the smug bastard's face and introduce him to her claws but for once she decided to listen to her head, holding back and trying to spot an opening. Not her forte but she was resolute, the work she and her friends put into that pater meant so much to her.

Even then, if looks could kill then the creep would be nothing but a smoldering pile of ash, there was no doubt about that.

"In any case, this newspaper is really boring." he commented with a large grin, still not looking at her, seemingly absorbed reading the paper. "The writing is very childish like it was written by a five-year-old. And don't you think I'd be a much better choice to take pictures? This trash would be better off burnt!" he explained, laughing as if he said a great joke.

Kurumu's expression darkened further as he brought out a light and turned it on, holding it close to her beloved papers, acting as if he couldn't sense how much the succubus wished to kill him at that moment.

While he seemingly didn't notice the killing intent aimed at him, someone else did. Shikaku wore a cruel smile on his face as he watched the two of them from his hiding place. He was not too far away not to hear the whole thing but he was hidden enough not to be noticed by either of them, not that either idiot thought of someone accidentally walking into their little 'lover's quarrel'.

"My, what a delightful expression. Makes me want to crush her just a little bit more." he commented to himself, closing his right into a fist before relaxing it then once again repeating the motion. "Still, I guess they have a little more time before I make my move." he said, looking at the wristwatch on his head, noting that it was almost time for the other part of the plan.

He would have liked nothing more than crust both of those pathetic waste of spaces and be done with this whole charade but orders were orders. He may be a little foul-mouthed and just a tad too violent to be socially acceptable, he knew that out of the three of them Saru was the strongest, so he would follow his orders for the time being but as soon as he shows a single weakness he would be there to make the most use of it.

Until then at least he still got a little entertainment of his own, he thought to himself as he turned back to Kurumu and Nagare, curious how will the succubus react when backed into the corner.

"Well, what are you gonna do Kurumu-chan?" the creepy teen asked after he waited for a little to make his 'dear' Kurumu-chan sweat for a bit, pulling the lighter closer to the papers. "If you want to protect these then do what I say." he threatened her, laughing to himself creepily.

"And if you burn them?" her cold question cut off his celebration, even giving pause to the listening Shikaku who leaned forward in anticipation, surprised by this turn of events.

"What?" Nagare asked back dumbly, no longer looking as confident as before.

"Those are very important to the people I care about." she declared finally looking up properly, her hair no longer hiding her face and though she had a few tears in her eyes they were born out of frustration. But what really changed was her eyes, they shined with a determination that she didn't seem to hold a day before."And no matter what you do, I will never forgive you for dirtying them.!"

Nagare looked taken aback, visibly sweating at the sudden change of attitude in the girl before him. Yesterday she was easily cowed into doing what he wanted, she was just like a doll that he could use for his desires. Yet now, for some reason, she thought that she could defy him. Instantly, the nervousness he felt gave way to anger. How dare she, how dare his little toy think she could defy him? That just won't do.

"Now that's what I call quality entertainment," Shikaku commented with a large grin, finally seeing things go in a more interesting direction.

"What? Are you going to defy me?" the slimy creep hunched forward, his face hidden behind his air as he took a large breath, seemingly not finding his voice. "You're going to go against the likes of me..." he trailed off as a shudder went through his body, his sweating intensifying.

Something moved on his neck and a moment later some kind of antenna-like tubes burst out, one on each side. It released some kind of hard to see smoke, something that went completely unnoticed by Kurumu who was too busy watching Nagare's skin turns in a disturbing lime-green color as his whole body seemed to ooze sweat like he was in a sauna.

That was without a doubt Nagare's monster form. A distant part of Kurumu's mind, it seemed to reflect the inside perfectly, a sweaty, disgusting-looking creep matched the personality of the blackmailing photographer.

"I'm a monster as well you know, I don't have to rely on this crap." he said with that creepy grin of his, waving around the papers in his hand. "I didn't want to use it but I prepared a trump card just in case." he gloated.

Kurumu said nothing, instead unfolded her wings, unrevealing her monster form as well, though privately she felt a little doubt. Unlike Moka, Tsukune, or even Tsuna she was not a fighter, she preferred her hypnotism to do the trick, to pacify and control any who would stand against her.

Right now, she doubted that would work. Nagare was already a stalker of sorts, a little charm would not help much, not to mention she knew from experience that the charm could be broken, fought off, or simply ignored in the case of Tsuna. She still wanted an explanation for that one but he was tight-lipped, like in most topics involving him.

"Here I come, Kurumu-chan." he exclaimed gleefully as he jumped down from the branch, landing in front of her. He also simply threw away the newspaper, it landing on the ground, though thankfully it didn't look damaged, only a little dirtied.

Kurumu gritted her teeth in anger as she jumped back in reflex, her wings opening up, ready to take her to the skies where she could plan without worry but much to her shock her wings only gave a little flap, feeling too weak to carry her own weight. It wasn't just her wings either as she moved she was shocked to find how little strength she felt in her limbs which felt like they were made of lead.

Thanks to that, her coordination left much to be desired and she fell to her back. neither her arms nor legs responding properly, all the while that pervert was walking towards her at a leisure pace.

"Just what's going on?" she demanded, a little bit of fear making its way into her voice as Nagare loomed over her, his grin turning wider every second.

-0-

The newspaper worked quietly, all engrossed in their work but it wasn't the same as yesterday, Tsuna had had to admit. There was none of the easy camaraderie, the small jokes and shared laughs, instead, there was a heavy feeling in the air, that made it hard for him, or for the others to concentrate.

Ordinarily, Tsuna wouldn't be too bothered by this. While liked the newspaper club and had fun with the others, he was simply not as invested or attached to the work they did as the others. That was one of the reasons, along with other matters weighing on his mind that he was not as devastated as the others, knowing all their hard work was stolen, or that Kurumu decided to quit out of the blue.

He was simply too used to life-threatening dangers surrounding him and the activities he did, that as much as he liked going to school and having fun with the others, a part of him was always a little detached from it, readying for the dangers that were sure to arrive, knowing his luck.

It didn't mean that he was completely emotionless and he really didn't like the current atmosphere around them, especially in an indirect way it became like this because of him. That made it hard for him to concentrate, though, after a look around, he was not the only one.

Tsukune was distracted, looking up almost longingly at the direction of the door almost every minute, as if excepting Kurumu to return and join them. Unfortunately, Tsuna was pretty sure it wouldn't happen, not before he could deal with the youkai after him. Moka, on the other hand, wore an angry frown and tried her hardest to not pay attention to anything but what was before her, though she was hardly successful. Caught between a rock and a hard place, Yukari could only look at the two of them, worry tinting her face. Lambo similarly was tense and distracted but it was more because of the upcoming fight they both know will happen very soon. It was a tenseness which Tsuna was very well acquainted with and almost welcomed the familiar feeling.

From the corner of his eyes, he caught Gin working on his part of the paper, seemingly the only one of them who was able to give his full attention to his work. But Tsuna gave a thoughtful frown as he regarded the werewolf, his instincts telling him that it couldn't be farther from the truth.

He always had a hard time reading him, despite his at first glance simple personality. Maybe he underestimated him because of that but he was certainly caught off-guard a few times when the club president reacted in a manner different than he figured, it was after their initial meeting for him to understand that there was more to Gin than first met the eye.

Even now, while most would think he was busy with his work, Tsuna could notice subtle details that told him that it was just a mask. His body was tense as if preparing for a fight at any moment, his ears twitched at every single sound, keeping track of everything around him. Tsuna didn't like it, it meant he had to deal with an unknown factor and he was pulling his friends into enough danger without wanting to add any more to the equation.

In the end, the silence was finally broken by Tsukune who stood up, a little hesitant at first but a moment later, it cleared away, giving way to a resolute look, prompting the others to look at him in question.

"Tsukune-kun?" Moka asked, her hand rising as if to reach out to him before she thought better of it and lowered her head. Lambo and Yukari likewise looked at him, head tilted in confusion.

Tsukune didn't answer at first, likely trying to compose what to say when he met Tsuna's eyes, his gaze questioning. Tsuna forced his face to give a show of indifference, neither approving nor disapproving.

He was aware of what Tsukune was trying to do, he did the same thing when he was still a student under Reborn. He was looking at Tsuna for direction, to tell him where to direct these feelings he wasn't sure what to do. To tell him what to do, even if it was something he didn't want to do. But there lied the problem. He wasn't Reborn.

There was a reason that man was known as one of the best tutors in the world, along with his fame as a hitman. The Sun Arcobaleno could turn any situation in his favor, manipulate any incident into a lesson for his charge to learn from. And as much as he took a few of his lessons to heart, as much as he at times acted like his eccentric Spartan tutor from hell, he was and would never be Reborn.

In the first place, he didn't intend to act as a mentor to Tsukune. Using the dying will bullets on him, training him, and helping him master the dying will started mostly as a whim. Of course, he also didn't want to let the defenseless guy die just like that and later he realized that Tsukune was a good way to turn attention away from him if too many became interested in him. But even with that, he wouldn't, couldn't train him to be a mafia boss, a hitman, or even another Tsuna.

Though it was a bitter irony, talking about not wanting to manipulate his friend when his whole plan relied on him manipulating them into the proper course of action but he felt it was the line he shouldn't cross. Even if his whole plan was disrupted because of this, he wanted to let Tsukune make his own choice.

And to be truthful he didn't want to be seen as someone other people looked for answers, to follow. Right now, he was happy he could manage himself, not other people, especially people who were just as eccentric as his former guardians.

Tsukune's head lowered as Tsuna refused to answer his silent plea for help but it wasn't enough to shatter his newfound resolve. He took a deep breath before he looked up, meeting Moka's eyes this time.

"I'm sorry but I can't do this." he said, his face scrunching up in sadness but he went on. "I'm going to look for Kurumu-chan and...and I will talk to her and find out what's going on." he stated as he stepped away from the table.

The pink vampire was out of her seat an instant later, her hand catching his sleeve arm as he started to turn around, her face pleading and full of worry. Absentmindedly Tsuna noted that her rosary gave of a faint feeling of power as if Ura was watching how the situation, which he found a little odd. As far as he knew, since the last time the subject came up, Ura tended to simply sleep through most of the time the seal was on, only waking up with the removal of the seal. Her taking the time to be up and paying attention now was a little bit unusual, to say the least.

"You can't. If you leave at this point, we will surely miss the deadline and all of our work will be for nothing. Please...let's just concentrate on this right now. After that we can talk with Kurumu and..." she asked him but was cut off when Tsukune stepped away from her, giving her a sad smile.

Yukari watched with worry on her face while Gin looked at the spectacle in front of him with an almost bored look on his face, though, like Tsuna he was just simply better at masking his true feelings. For his part, Tsuna was simply surprised that Tsukune could 'defy' the pink vampire so easily.

Last he checked the black-haired human was crushing hard on Moka, similar he used to have one of the most obvious crushes on Kyoko during middle school. He did notice that during the last few weeks he spent a lot more time with Kurumu, along with not looking as starstruck around Moka but he didn't think he would be over his feelings so quickly. Seems like he underestimated his student.

"That sounds a little hypocritical of you." commented Gin when it seemed Tsukune was ready to leave in search of Kurumu. Every eye turned to the werewolf, who eyed a human with his head lazily resting on one of his hands. "Does that mean the newspaper club you said we would create together won't matter?" he asked, referring to how Tsukune, similar to Moka was one of the most passionate about their paper and put the most work into it.

Talk about putting him between a rock and a hard place, was Tsuna's thoughts as he watched Tsukune needing to choose between his passion for the newspaper club and his concern for Kurumu. Even he was curious about the answer, to see how his newfound resolution will hold.

"It's the opposite senpai." Tsukune replied quietly, his back to the others as he turned towards the door, stopping in front of it. "What I want is the newspaper we will create together. I don't feel that it would be complete without Kurumu-chan being here. I mean, it wouldn't be the same without any of us." he added hastily, a hint of nervousness creeping into his voice.

For a moment everyone stayed silent, sending him shocked looks, hearing the conviction in his voice. For his part, Tsuna found it humorous how similar Tsukune sounded to his younger self, whenever he found himself needing to make a choice. He would rather find a way to not need to make that choice, to be able to come home with every one of his friends. Part of him felt saddened he was no longer this naive but that same part felt proud for Tsukune's decision.

"Then why are standing there, looking like an idiot?" he asked and this time it was Tsukune who looked at him in surprise while Moka looked as if he betrayed her."Do you want permission? Why? If you feel like you need to do this then you shouldn't stand around, waiting for someone to tell you what to do. You have to take that resolution that you have and simply use i. Stay and work on the newspaper or leave and search for that succubus, in the end, no one can make that choice but you." he said, his voice hard and words struck a chord in Tsukune, causing him to straighten up and a resolute look to appear on his face.

It wasn't like Tsuna wanted to give a rousing speech or something but if there was something he appreciated in Reborn, that when it truly mattered he gave him a choice, to either go and stay. Of course most of the time it was not a real choice at all and with Tsukune's earlier words he was sure which one his student was going to choose but he still felt he needed to make his position clear.

Tsukune gave him a thankful smile and a nod before giving a look to the others in the room, taking in their faces. Lambo and Yukari were worried and unsure, Gin and Tsuna both looked bored while Moka's expression was hidden behind her hair. Someone was missing from that picture and that reminder was just what he needed to make his decision.

"Thank you." was all that Tsukune said before walking out of the room, closing the door behind him, showing no hesitation as he left.

Seeing that the drama around them seemed to be over for the moment, Tsuna turned back to the paper in his hand and tried to get back into it, at least to have something to do while he waited for his meeting with Mei and her group. That was the plan until Moka's voice turned his attention back to the vampire who was still looking in the direction of the door, one hand clutching her rosary.

"Why? Why did you tell him to leave?" she asked quietly, finally looking at him, her eyes conveying the hurt she felt."After all the time we worked on the newspaper together, with the original draft stolen, why did you tell him to chase after Kurumu, who left at the first chance of things getting tough? Does our club matter so little to you?" she asked, no demanded as tears gathered in her eyes, probably because of frustration, though Tsuna never claimed to understand women, so he could be wrong. He also felt another 'eye' watching him for his answer.

"I-I'm going to look in the back for any papers we may have missed." Yukari mumbled quietly as she decided to stay as far away from the argument between her sibling figures and she dragged Lambo with him who was watching the proceedings dumbly. Gin meanwhile turned back to his work in front of him, seemingly completely uninterested in all that drama.

"I didn't tell him to leave." was Tsuna's simple answer, not noticing the witch's hasty retreat. He let out a sigh as he leaned back on his chair, drumming his fingers as he thought over the situation."I simply gave him a choice to either stay or go. It's not like I told him that it's his destiny to go after Kurumu or that if he leaves, he could never come back. Neither did I try to emotionally manipulate him." he added as he gave a significant look which made her look away from him, not willing to meet his eyes.

Honestly, Tsuna did not understand Moka sometimes, though it was also true to women in general.

While he had some fun in this newspaper club, the simple fact that if they failed to complete the paper by the deadline, it would not matter to him much. What's the worst that could happen? The club would be disbanded but all they needed to do to go to the same club or make a new one and they would still be together. It felt a little strange that it was so important to Moka. No, not just Moka. Apparently, it was just as important to Kurumu, judging by his observations.

Though, he supposed his point of view was a little skewed. Since his middle school days, he regularly had to deal with all sorts of strange and ridiculous problems, various threats to his life and even the world's future rested on him, during his trip ten years into the future. Even now, he had to constantly dodge monsters who wanted nothing more than to beat him to a pulp because of various reasons, trying to outmaneuver a group of blackmailers, while keeping alive Tsukune who he pulled under his wing. Not to mention, he still had to worry about the poison in him slowly killing him.

On the other hand, while for unknown reasons Moka had her powers sealed, she had a much easier to understand life. She was ostracized in the human world, never having friends, so here in Youkai Academy where she can be her true self, so she would want to savor this experience as much as she could. It meant spending time with her newfound friends and even regular activities that sounded like they belonged in some kind of slice of life anime, like after-school club activities.

It was a mess on its own, something he would have liked to do without.

"The reason why I didn't try to stop him is simple enough." he spoke up after a moment, waiting until Moka finally met his eyes, wanting to get his point across. "Whether the course of action he chose was good or bad, doesn't matter. He chose, he has to through it and later has to face its consequences. It's that simple. Making mistakes, owning up to the results, without these, you can't grow as a person. Tsukune has to be allowed to make a choice. I accepted to train him with his powers, so it's my responsibility to have him grow as a person also." he let out a small laugh, his eyes clouded by memories of a certain tutor of his."Guess that's something I picked up from my own teacher."

"I just wanted to spend time, to have fun with everyone." the pink-haired girl said in a weak, sad voice that made Tsuna frown slightly. He was never good at trying to cheer up girls, or anyone for that matter, thanks to his lacking social skills. That didn't mean he couldn't try.

"I think that's the same for Tsukune. That's why he did what he did." he pointed out, Moka looking up at him, silently telling him to elaborate."He wants to have fun at the newspaper club with everyone but that means he couldn't let just Kurumu go. He is the naive kind of guy who will even go to the end of the earth for someone who acts like they want nothing to do with him." he said, a sad, nostalgic smile on his face.

"You..you look like you are talking from experience." she said, her head tilted slightly. She still looked a bit upset at Tsukune (and Kurumu) leaving and Tsuna taking their side but she seemed to calm down to at least try to think logically now that Tsuna decided to elaborate why he sided against her.

"I used to be like that, once." was all the answer the former leader of the vongola gave her, his eyes silently asking her not to dig any deeper into his past right now.

Thankfully for Tsuna their conservation by a surprised yell before Yukari ran up to them, her eyes wide and holding an envelope in her hands that seemed very familiar to him. He needed a moment but he recognized it as the envelope that Kurumu got yesterday.

"Tsuna-nii! Moka-nee! I found something awful." she cried out, Lambo trailing after her with a nervous look on his face. She held up the envelope for them to see, giving it to Tsuna when he held out his hand to see it. "I was looking through the back, trying to find some clues for the drafts and I found this in the toolbox." she explained.

"What's in it?" Gin asked, finally involving himself in the conversation as he walked up to them. He was no relaxed, he had a more serious look in his eyes.

Tsuna frowned as he read the small note before handing it to the werewolf, wisely deciding not to give the photos too. Instead, he gave them with the envelope to Moka who let out a shocked gasp as he started to think of the implications. It confirmed that Mei and her group intended to use Kurumu as a bargaining chip from the get-go, furthermore they had a member with great capability for spying judging from the embarrassing pictures.

What was worrying, it also meant there was a chance that his opponents already were aware of his contingencies which would be catastrophic for him. He felt he was careful enough when he made his moves but he couldn't say for certain, not even with the infamous Vongola Hyper Intuition on his side since he had no idea who he was exactly up against. On the other hand, it was too late to try and change the plan, his only option was to go forward and wing it.

"That's horrible!" Moka's voice brought him back into the present, reminding him that it was no use speculating about something he has no way to verify and his attention would be better served right now. "Do you think they are blackmailing Kurmu with these pictures?" she asked the others, probably already aware of the answer, only not wanting to be right.

"There's no doubt about that." Gin said, his face darkened at the implications before he forced a more neutral look on his face. Nonetheless, the others caught it, silently deciding to avoid angering the club president."What I can't understand, why steal the newspaper draft. If they wanted Kurumu to be punished they would have released the pictures to the student body.

"Maybe Kurumu didn't get along with what they wanted and instead stole our work, knowing she would care more about that?" Yukari asked, thinking out loud. It fit, so to speak, though Tsuna wondered how much his enemies knew about them if they anticipated Kurumu's reaction so well since on the surface Kurumu acted like a drama queen, much more interested in her own appearance than anything. It didn't bode well for them.

"Doesn't that mean that Kurumu left so she could get back the manuscripts?" the vampire asked from herself, arms wrapping around as she felt guilt settle in her, remembering her words to the succubus. "And I said such mean words to her before she left, I didn't mean, I didn't think-" she was cut off as a pair of slender hands wrapped around her waist, hugging her. Looking down she saw Yukari clinging to her, offering her a shaky smile.

"You didn't know it Moka-nee, please don't blame yourself. We can still help Kurumu since she probably at the same place this letter talks about." she told her, hoping to get her spirits up.

"That's right." Lambo suddenly spoke up, surprising them and reminding them there were others in the room. The young bovino was grinning from ear to ear, looking like Christmas came early. "Let's blow up that meanie so many times they will never try something like that. I will use a lot of explosions and then we can get cake!" he added with a cheer, the others had the feeling it was the most important part o the whole plan for him.

 _"What are you doing, feeling sorry for yourself?"_ a harsh voice came from inside, scolding her _."Don't tell me you are so soft that all you can do is cry and sit around. You are a vampire, aren1t you. If you time feeling sorry for yourself, you can go out there and show them what it means, messing with a vampire."_

"You guys." Moka teared up and was about to cry but a moment later she smiled and wiped away the few tears in her eyes. "You are right. Kurumu-chan and Tsukune-kun are in trouble we have to help them." without waiting for the others, clutching the letter close to her chest she stormed out of the clubroom, intent on helping her friends. As she began to run, she touched her rosary, giving it a fond smile. "Thank you as well, Ura-chan." she whispered to her other self.

 _"As if I would care about your thanks."_ Ura answered, still in a harsh tone, though Omote imagined her sealed self blushing at the moment. _"Do whatever you want but I hope that using me to clean up your mess is not your only plan."_ with that, Ura closed the connection between them but it did nothing to lessen the smile on the pink-haired girl's face as she ran forward.

"Moka-nee! Wait!" the young witch cried out in shock, a heartbeat later she was in hot pursuit of her sister figure. Cackling to himself, Lambo was about to run after them but a hand on his shoulder stopped him cold. Looking up, he met Tsuna's eyes as the older teen looked at him seriously.

"Please look after them Lambo." he told him, the part of him not being there to help them himself left unsaid. Lambo gulped but nodded, silently promising that no one will come to harm under his watch."Thank you. If there is no other option, use the ten-year-old bazooka. As soon as I can I will be with you guys." Tsuna hesitated before giving a weak but genuine smile to his former guardian."Stay safe Lambo.

"Only if you promise to do the same." he said with a large grin, wanting, no, needing to hear confirmation that his big brother will be safe. But Tsuna's grim look as he squeezed his shoulder, told him that for once Tsuna could not make that promise.

Composing himself, the young hitman simply nodded before rushing after Moka and Yukari, not intending to break his promise to Tsuna. Tsuna didn't look in the direction they went, only sighing as he ran a hand through his hair, for a moment the exhaustion he felt showing himself through the cracks of his mask. A moment later, he once again looked as if there was nothing wrong with him and went to his desk, grabbing his bag, checking that he had everything with himself.

"You aren't going to join them?" Gin asked the only one who remained in the room. He was sitting on one of the desks, looking curiously at the former mafioso, wanting to see what he was going to do.

"Are you?" Tsuna asked back, sending a look to the werewolf before grabbing his bag and heading out of the room. He let out a sigh as he stopped at the door, though he did not turn back to Gin."As much as I want to, I have other matters to tend to. They will probably hate me for it but it won't change it's something I have to do."

"They why do it, whatever it is?" Gin asked back, though Tsuna got the feeling the other man had a good idea.

"I would love to say that it is because I have no choice but it would be a fat lie. I always had a choice, even if there seemed like there was no choice at all. I simply chose my path and now have to own up to it." he gave a small laugh, finding irony in this whole situation."It's funny. I chose to become the very thing I swore I would never be. It's a mistake but I have to see it to the end."

Gin didn't say anything and Tsuna looked uncertain. He made to step out of the room but stopped once again, visibly hesitating. He looked back at Gin, the older man watching him without any emotion or any judgment, deep in thought. Tsuna, on the other hand, sported a hesitant, soft look in his eyes that made him look so much younger than usual. It was something the werewolf didn't expect.

"I know that I am probably the last person who should say this but want my advice? That pull you feel inside? The one that tells you are not alone even when you are doing your best to distance yourself? That makes you interact with this ragtag group of first years even when you are doing your best to act as a lone wolf?" the club president was clearly shocked by his words, his eyes wide and mouth opening to protest but no words came out. Tsuna gave him a sad, pained smile."My advice is to not ignore that one. Trust me on that, there is nothing more empowering than when everyone stands together, the confirmation that whatever happens, you won't be alone at facing it. That's why, for me, the loneliest thing is an empty sky that lost everything." he turned away from Gin and left the room but his last words still reached the still shocked upper year."If I don't come back, look after them."

Gin didn't say anything for a long minute. He ran a hand through his hair and looked out the window, remembering another group he was a part of, the first where he felt accepted, where he simply wasn't Mad Dog Morioka and how he lost all of that. With a heavy sigh, he stood up and left a room as well, turning in the direction Moka and the others run off to.

"Guess I have no other choice but be the cool senpai and save my kouhai right?" he asked himself as he began to walk in slow, measured steps, hands in his pockets. After a few steps, he stopped, looking over his shoulder with a serious look on his face. "Sawada if you dare not to come back, I will never forgive you."

-0-

"Just where did Kurumu go?" Tsukune asked from himself, panting as he tried to catch his breath, completely exhausted from running around the school.

He had a bad feeling about this whole situation, Kurumu being very distant today, same for Tsuna, their manuscript had been stolen and Kurumu deciding to quit the newspaper club out of nowhere. Something was seriously wrong and he wanted, no needed to find out what's going on. Whenever he felt down, or Tsuna's training became too much, Kurumu was there for him, to cheer him up and he wouldN't be able to call himself her friend if he didn't help now when something was clearly off.

But despite his best intentions, he was getting nowhere. He ran around the school, checking on spots they tended the frequent, such as the cafeteria, his classroom, Kurumu's classroom. He even took a detour to the clearing Tsuna trained him before running back to the dorm, trying to see if she came back to her room but he found nothing. That prompted him to run back to the school building and make another round through it, with nothing to show for his efforts.

A few students who were still in the school, wandering the hallways looked at him, some in worry, others silently or not so silently laughing at him but he ignored them. He could only concentrate on this bad feeling, since he didn't know what else to call it, telling him that needed to hurry before something happened. But he was completely out of options, with no idea where to go.

His hands almost without thought drifted to his pocket, where the small case containing his dying will pills were. He considered taking one, hoping that while in that state, he would find Kurumu but he hesitated, knowing that it wasn't a good plan at all.

While the dying will state gave him a singular focus on his directive, it didn't miraculously provide him with a way to find Kurumu-chan. All it would accomplish was him running around in his underwear, yelling Kurumu's name much to his future embarrassment. Not to mention, the toll it took on his body, it always left him a little tired, something Tsuna said was excepted until he could control and maintain the dying will properly which won't happen anytime soon. All in all, it meant that the idea was out of the picture for now.

"What should I do? I can't find Kurumu anywhere, yet I can't just go back to the clubroom, not until I talked to her." he asked himself out loud, trying to think of a place he didn't look but it was a tall order, unfortunately, the school and its surrounding grounds were large, with far too many hiding places for those who didn't want to be found.

"That's quite a long face, kid." a slightly familiar voice interrupted his troubled thoughts, prompting him to look up in surprise. "Do be careful with that. Shows of weakness like that, and you will be killed before long. After all, Youkai Academy is a very scary place." he could almost hear the massive grin that the person who spoke would have on his face as he turned around, his eyes widening in recognition.

The creepy bus driver who took him to this school stood behind him, the usual creepy grin still on his face as he smoked his cigar, his glowing eyes not failing the send a shiver down his spine. He was so shocked by the appearance of the strange man that he didn't notice every other student quickly vacating the premises, looking scared out of their minds. It didn't seem to be a conscious decision, no one looked at Tsukune's or the bus driver's way, it was simply instinct that told them to keep living they had to leave. Of course, Tsukune being the dense teen with surprising little survival instinct completely overlooked that fact.

"The bus driver?" he exclaimed in shock, choosing to not notice the comment about him being killed. The threat of death was getting surprisingly commonplace in this school, so he tried not to dwell too much on it.

"Long time no see." the bus driver smirked at him before taking a long whiff of the cigar, his unnerving eyes no leaving the black-haired human, even as Tsukune began to fidget nervously in place."And you are still alive to bout. So how is it? Do you regret staying in this school?"

Despite his worries for Kurumu, the question caught him a little off guard. Did he regret staying in this school? His life was almost in a constant form of danger, one way or other, not to mention the hellish training from Tsuna and all other drama. He almost died because of a disease that he got because he tried to get stronger. He initially stayed to be closer to Moka, because of his crush on her, something that changed since then with her rejection.

But did it mean he regretted staying? He remembered the fun times he had with the others, Tsuna and Lambo fighting, Moka and Yukari helping him study, or just spending time with Kurumu whenever he got exhausted from training. He thought of the fun they had in the newspaper club yesterday, with even Gin joining in. That was what he loved in this place. It wasn't easy, he could die almost every day but finally, he felt like he belonged, ironically enough and he never wanted to let go of this feeling.

"I don't regret it at all." Tsukune answered with a clear voice, a small smile on his face. "It's scary and dangerous but I wouldn't trade it for anything." the bus driver said nothing but let out a puff of smoke from his mouth, looking at him unnervingly. "I'm sorry but I have to go and find one of my friends." he said, excusing himself as he turned around and began to walk away, remembering that he still had no idea where Kurumu could be.

The laugh the bus driver let out a moment later had him stopping and looking back in curiosity and a little in trepidation.

"There's no stopping you is there? Most people would be trying to get out of madness like this but you are charging headlong with no regards to your life." the bus driver said, pointing at him with his cigar, his grin becoming wider."You should look for your friend in the backyard of the school, around that large, scary-looking tree, in a bit of trouble. Though, before you run into mortal danger, you should remember that your friend with the mysterious path won't be there to help you, even he can't fight a battle on two fronts. That means it's all on you, kid."

The bus driver received no answer, as the teen suddenly turned around and began to run, in the direction where Kurumu was. Any other time, he would have wondered how the man knew these things, about Tsuna being in trouble as well but there was no time. Kurumu was in danger. Kurumu, who was always there for him as a friend, who looked after him when the death skull disease first appeared. He didn't even realize he grabbed the container in his pocket by the time he popped a dying will bullet into this mouth.

For a moment, he felt the by now familiar feeling of his heart skipping a beat, the icy fear dawning on him that he was back there at death's door. Usually, it felt like an eternity, being here before the surging flames of dying will flames filled him as the regret he was feeling at the moment, pulled him into the dying will state. Not this time. Almost immediately a new strength filled him, stronger than ever, purging his mind of all thoughts save for the one, the one thing he regretted at the moment.

"I'll find Kurumu as I were to die!" he roared as his clothes, save for his underwear got destroyed by the surge of energy as the dying will flame appeared on his forehead. "Out of the way." he yelled as he quickly jumped to the side, avoiding running into the only student who remained in the corridor as he charged forward, intent on reaching his friend.

The person he almost tramped looked after him with an almost blank expression, giving no idea of her actual thoughts. She was a young girl with long purple hair, blue, almost purple eyes with no visible pupil, and a lollipop in her mouth. Instead of the required uniform, she didn't wear a uniform, she was wearing a light brown pleated checkered skirt, a white sweatshirt with long dark blue sleeves with a black singlet underneath, a yellow pendant, long dark & light purple striped stockings with white shoes and a belt tied to her left leg. She was also very, very pale but instead of looking sick, it seemed more of a natural skin tone.

She tilted her head as she watched Tsukune's retreating form before pulling the lollipop out of her mouth with an audible pop. She seemed to think about something for a minute before shrugging to herself and began to leisurely walk in the direction the dying will user ran off, leaving the bus driver alone in the corridor.

"These kids are just as interesting as ever." he commented as a cloaked figure appeared behind him, chuckling ominously. "Let's see how you handle these new developments, Sawada boy." he breathed out a large cloud of smoke that covered their forms. When the smoke dissipated, there was no evidence of either of them.


	14. Never anger a Vongola

"What's wrong Kurumu-chan? Do you feel unwell? Want me to look after you?" Nagase asked her with a mocking grin as he slowly walked, no, crawled toward her as his lower body turned into a large green mass.

Kurumu was lying on the ground, a terrified expression on her face as she found her body refusing to respond to her at all, only the useless twitch of her arms and legs showing that she was completely paralyzed. But that didn't mean anything right now as that still left her unable to do anything as the creep neared her.

"What did you do to me?" she ground out even as she had to fight down her disgust as Nagare kneeled down next to her, grabbing a fistful of her hair and waving his fingers through it with a disturbing smile.

"Whatever do you mean?" he asked back, trying to play dumb but his face betrayed him even when it was obvious it was his doing."Oh, you mean the paralysis? It's a poisonous gas that I can emit, not that powerful but very useful in certain situations if you know what I mean." he made no secrets of his intentions as he eyed certain parts of her with a lustful gaze as he giggled to himself.

Shikaku, still hidden from view, was watching them with a disgusted frown on his face. He was by no means a Saint, perfectly willing to kill, export, and do a lot of things that even other youkai would balk but the main difference was that he did those things as a means to an end, to gain power and be free of any who would try to control him. Sure, he would take great pleasure in mocking his enemies and pouring salt into the wound but at least he had the spine and strength to back himself up.

This cretin would never try anything bold like this if it wasn't for the three of them backing him up so to speak. This creepy weakling would cover at the smallest sign of things not going according to plan.

Shikaku honestly felt insulted at being sorted to watch duty as opposed to the others meeting the Vongola but he will endure. For now but rest assured, the time will come where he will be the one giving orders.

"Let me go, you bastard." Kurumu cried out even as she uselessly twitched, her strength being eaten away little by little much to Nagase's amusement.

"You are hurting my feelings Kurumu-chan. After the bond we share this is how you treat me?" the smug prick cried in mock sadness before his cruel grin once again took its place. With the Succubus completely defenseless he placed his right hand on her thigh and slowly began to run his hand further up." This wouldn't do. Time for a punishment Kruumu-chan. Don't be afraid, you will feel good I promise."

"Noooo!" feeling even more distressed she fired out, desperately hoping to find her ability to move but at this point, she wasn't even able to move her neck, only her eyes and mouth much to her dawning horror. "Help! Please, someone, help me!" she cried out but Shikaku was the only one who heard her and he wasn't about to move even a finger to help her.

"Scream all you want my dear, no one will hear you." the slug monster laughed at the sheer horror in her face as his hand slid under her skirt.

As if deciding to contradict his words, a loud roar, something that probably belonged to a beast that anything intelligent reached them, prompting Nagare to stop and look around in shock. Kurumu on the other hand, her eyes lit up with a new light as a hopeful smile appeared on her face since that battle cry was one that was very familiar to her.

"Raaaaaah!" they heard the roar once again, this time much closer, to be more precise it sounded like it came from above them.

Nagare felt his survival instincts flare-up, the very instincts that helped him survive in this school, and followed them without pause, narrowly missing the human-shaped bullet that landed where his head was a moment before with a thunderous roar, creating a small crater. It was Tsukune, his completely white eyes and flame on his forehead, showing he entered dying will mode.

Thankfully he was able to land in a way that Kurumu was completely unharmed, safely lying behind him, his body serving as a living barrier against the slug youkai.

"Tsu-Tsukune-kun?" she asked, completely shocked but couldn't hide the tears of relief and happy smile at seeing him. After all, he was her hero, the one she knew deep down that would never betray her, no matter what. And now, after what she said, he was still here.

'So this is the fabled dying will flame. Show me what all that hype is for.' Shikaku though he eagerly leaned forward, not wanting to miss any of the action. He wanted to see how this power could tip the scales in a powerless, talentless human's favor, already imagining what it would do to his already considerable power.'I will be unstoppable once I have this power in my grasp.'

A part of him wondered why they were focusing so much on the former Vongola when this kid looked even more reckless and vulnerable, providing easy access to those legendary bullets but without voicing the thought, he already knew it wouldn't serve their long term goals.

While looking and acting a lot weaker than the rumors would suggest, if Sawada had even a decent brain cell in his brain, he would carefully monitor how many bullets his so-called student would have access to. They could gain so much more in the long term by focusing on Sawada, not to mention the extra cash from the bounty placed on him would only help them along.

Still, this situation provided some entertainment for him at least, until he needed to make a move himself.

"Who-Who do you think you are?" Nagare fumed as he stood up, unbidden fury taking over his slug-like features."How dare you interrupt my time with Kurumuchan?"

Tsukune didn't answer, only growling at the photographer while he took up a protective stance in front of the still paralyzed Succubus, his body hunched forward, resembling more of an ape at that moment than a human.

"Tsukune-kun. Please be careful, he can create a poison that paralyzes your body, don't get too close to him." Kurumu called to him worriedly, straining her neck to look up to her savior.

Nagare scowled as that damned woman spilled out his secret weapon, already sweating either from nervousness or as a sheer defense reaction to the clear danger standing in front of him. Despite his abilities, he was not a strong monster, and conflict of any kind was the very, very last resort of his options if he could help it.

He did not feel particularly hopeful about fighting that crazy kid, who runs around in school in a boxer of all things, head lit on fire beating up various monsters who were no doubt physically stronger than him. But then the slug youkai was not ready to just give up his prize.

"If you think you can stand between me and my beautiful prize, you have another thing coming." he spoke up, forcing a confident demeanor over himself, trying to bluff his way out. Though he had a few tricks up his sleeve, there was a reason he was the bottom of the food pyramid of this school, so to speak."You don't know who you are messing with."

"IT. WILL. BE. ALRIGHT." Tsukune growled out in an almost broken manner as he continued to growl like an enraged animal. "I will protect Kurumu-chan with my dying will." he declared to the clearing, bringing a blush to the girl's face, especially because of the helpless position she was in.

While under the influence of the dying will pill he appeared confident and unrelenting on the outside, the inside was a little different. What part of Tsukune remained logical and normal was trying his hardest to keep himself from panicking as he felt the power of his dying will slowly but surely growing smaller, and tried to hold onto it as best as he could, remembering Tsuna's earlier warning about the dangers and drawbacks on relying on the dying will to make up for his lack of strength.

-0-

_"Tunnel vision?" he dumbly repeated the words he heard, looking at his mentor slash tormentor in question._

_It was the end of his latest training session with Tsuna which surprisingly ended with little amounts of explosives or general near-death experiences, something he was thankful for. He still ended up dead on his feet and unable to even find the power to stand as he slumped down next to a tree like a puppet cut off its strings._

_Tsuna, on the other hand, sat on a branch above him, looking like a lazy cat as he was trying and failing at concentrating on the Japanese literature book in front of him. He was never the most studious student, in his younger years, he lacked both the ability and the drive to concentrate on it and not even Reborn's questionable methods managed to change his mind. It also did not help that their teachers were half-assing or simply taught wrong things in class, probably because youkai did not have the clearest picture of how the human world worked._

_Finally admitting defeat, he closed the book with a snap and leaned back, one leg dangling below while the other was pulled back to his chest, providing a convenient armrest for him, enjoying the relatively nice morning, a little piece of peace that was rare in this school._

_"Tunnel vision is one of the most prominent drawbacks of using the basic dying will bullet, especially on someone like you whose experience is fairly limited." he started to explain after a minute when his pupil started to wonder if he was sleeping. "The dying will works on the premise of awakening your greatest regret and pushing your body to carry out your last will so to speak. But it makes you incapable of thinking rationally, running forward like a bull, the only thought is completing your objective, nothing else matters. Not who or what stands in the way. It makes you run headlong into speeding trucks, through the girls' locker room with nothing but a boxer, jump into a river when you can't swim or destroy a whole national site while mindlessly running headfirst." he said, trailing off in the end, a faraway look in his way. It had equal parts of longing and deeply repressed trauma._

_"Um, Tsuna-san?" Tsukune called out to him softly, worry ringing his voice. In response, Tsuna simply shook his head, shaking himself out of his memories._

_"Sorry, bad memories." he told him with a small smile as he got up and jumped down from the tree, landing in front of Tsukune in a crouch."As I told you, while using the dying will bullet, even if I assist you with the additional bullets to the body is a good idea to use short term, in a longer battle it will be a lot less effective, which means you have to find the means the overcome these weaknesses."_

_"Is that tunnel vision really that dangerous." his pupil asked back curiously as he tried and failed to stand up, ending back at the side of a tree in a heap. "Considering I'm practically invincible in that state, I doubt I would run into a lot of problems."_

_Tsukune a moment later cried out in pain as a small rock bounced off his head, the brown-haired former mafioso looked at him with an amused smirk, though it soon disappeared, a serious expression taking its place._

_"I'll give you an example. Say, someone stands in your way, someone who you can't beat even with your enhanced power. What would you do? Normally you would try to get past them, trick them, or use some kind of strategy. Only, your conscious mind is no longer in control." Tsuna explained, pointing at his forehead. "Your body moves according to one and only one thing, the dying will that was left in you as the bullet took common sense, no survival instinct, not even your allies could change your mind. And with it, we come to the second biggest flaw of this method." he said, holding up two fingers, while Tsukune, eagerly listened, since it was rare for Tsuna to sit down and explain things, instead of dropping him into a minefield and expecting him to figure things out. "You cannot change your will. What I mean by that is that in a battle, things are quick to change and even if something happened, say someone was in danger and you wanted to help them, if your dying will is concentrating on something else, you just can't will your body to change directions. It's kind of connected with tunnel vision and could be very bad, especially if you fight with allies. You would be essentially a loose cannon, a force of nature that can't be controlled."_

_Tsukune scratched the back of his head as he tried to understand what his teacher was trying to say. It was kind of hard since he always saw the dying will as some sort of invincible power, probably on the same level as Moka's unleashed vampire powers. Then, he promptly remembered that there were indeed limits to the power, case in point his unquestionable loss against Ishigami-sensei, though he blamed the skull disease for it._

_"Is there no way the change the will behind it?" he asked in the end, looking curiously at Tsuna who sighed._

_"It is possible to slightly change it, at least in theory but even then the change will be really small and you run the risk of losing the power of dying will entirely. This takes us to the final and possibly greatest weakness of this power. The power of dying will, despite how it feels while you use it, is finite."_

_"What do you mean by finite?" came the curious, if not a little confused question._

_"The dying will state by its nature is not a state you can stay in indefinitely. After all, the will that's used as fuel for a lack of better term could be broken or exhausted."_

_Swirls comically replaced the raven-haired teen's eyes and Tsuna had to sigh as he saw no signs of comprehension. Who knew this would be harder than explaining things to Ryohei or Takeshi. At times like these, he solely wished there was some kind of manual for training people in the use of dying flames, which would make his job infinitely easier._

_Of course, knowing his luck, there was such a manual, only Reborn, that troll from Hell simply decided not to inform him of this tidbit._

_"In simpler terms, there are 2 ways the dying will could be extinguished." Tsuna began to explain, holding up four fingers."The first one is the most obvious, you complete what was your regret, returning to normal. But even that is dangerous since if it happens in the middle of a battle, you will be exhausted and completely defenseless." he saw Tsukune flinch at the thought but didn't let up, needing to drive the point home. "The second one is simply exhaustion. If you remember the way you and I use the dying will is different. That is because unlike you I can regulate the dying will flame I give out, keeping myself longer in that state with less energy used up. You on the other hand, simply are stuck on the maximum output, because of that, even if you can't accomplish your last regret, you can't stay in that form for more than 5 minutes. The dying will be snuffed out and will leave you exhausted."_

_At his words, Tsukune's mood dropped further, seeing the large gap in their abilities. When Tsuna fought against those lizardmen with the others, he was in the dying will state far longer than Tsukune ever did, during training or outside of it. Clenching his fists, he looked up at his mentor determinedly._

_"Isn't there some exercise that can help me master it?" he asked hopefully, but those hopes were quickly dashed as his mentor shook his head._

_"While there are a few tricks that make it easier, ultimately the only way is simply to use the dying will so frequently your body adjusts to it but it takes a lot of time, so for the time being this option is out. And before you ask, you just simply can't take another dying will pill to reenter the dying will state." Tsukune's jaw audibly clicked as he quickly closed his mouth just as he was about to ask precisely that."Your exhaustion will not disappear, after all, it is your will, your lifeforce from a certain point of view that is used up, and without resting you will run the risks of dying for sure if you take one pill too many." Tsuna told him solemnly._

_"And what is the limit?" Tsukune asked back, feeling more and more unnerved from this talk._

_His teacher slash torturer didn't answer at first. Tsuna didn't know why but he noticed that no matter how much he pushed the other teen, he was unable to go above a certain limit, his body giving up and leaving him exhausted at best, unconscious at worst. Simply put, he was nowhere as compatible with the dying will bullet as Tsuna._

_He had no idea if it was because of the Vongola line having dying will users for generations, or simply Tsukune being unlucky and less suited for this kind of power but the fact was that Tsuna had to be careful how much he can push him in training. While the body bullet variations put relatively little strain on the body since the dying will is already in use, reentering that state multiple times is another thing entirely._

_Giving a large sigh, finally feeling how much responsibility it was to teach somehow, especially something as double-edged and mostly unknown as the dying will. He looked Tsukune in the eye, trying to convey how serious his next words will be,_

_"Tsukune, the school only started about two months ago, two months since you were introduced to the dying will flame. You were only training your boy for a little over a month and while you come a long way, it's still not enough. At your current state, if you try to take a second pill in the middle of a battle, there is a large chance that it will be the last thing you do." he told him, his student paling as the implications hit him._

-0-

'I have to make the most of my dying will while it lasts, otherwise, I would be in really big trouble.' was what Tsukune thought as he gave a battle cry and launched himself forward, intending to knock out Nagare in one blow.

Tsukune sent a haymaker at the slug youkai but he showed that he didn't survive in this 'might makes right' society just by being lucky as he quickly avoided the blow narrowly, the dying will user only striking the ground, forming a small fist-sized crater in its place. Still, the strength of the blow alone sent Nagare flying, who was surprised by the sheer strength the weak-looking guy was able to bring forth, causing him to suddenly feel a lot more nervous.

 _"_ Just what kind of freak are you?" he asked in disbelief but a moment later he had to shut up and run as Tsukune began to chase him, intent on pummeling him into a pulp before his dying will runs out.

Using the slime that his body secreted which was usually useful for getting him into tight spaces no one with humanoid anatomy could normally do, he was able to avoid those earth-shattering blows by just the skin of his teeth but he knew he couldn't avoid it forever. Thankfully he didn't have to.

If he was asked for his opinion, Nagare would say he was a lover not a fighter and he would happily deal with all those idiotic muscles for brains after they were incapacitated by the poison gas released from his body. Unfortunately, his paralysis took a while to really begin affecting the target, not to mention in the middle of a battle it was even slower thanks to adrenalin running in his opponent. If it were otherwise, he would have carved himself a higher place in the power ladder of the school.

Shikaku, who stayed in his convenient hiding spot was watching them with a sneer on his face. Honestly, with one of them just jumping around, punching and kicking without any tactic, and the others simply running away without even trying to fight back, it looked more like a playground fight than anything else. Worse, that it was literally over some girl who he personally thought didn't even look that good save for those enormous milk bags of hers.

Well, at the very least it looked like it was winding down, which meant it would be his moment to enter the fray very soon.

 _"_ Try not to make it too boring." he muttered to himself as he cracked his neck, a sadistic smile on his face.

-0-

"Seems like things are finally in motion." Tsuna mumbled to himself as he looked in the direction of Tsukune and the others had run off with a pensive expression on his face. Natsu, still in his ring form growled either as an answer or some kind of reassurance that brought a small smile from the mafioso. "Don't you dare die or I will find some way to bring you back and train you to your second death." he said before turning around and walking away, hoping his friends will get out of this whole situation unharmed.

It was out of his hands now, he could only deal with the cards that he had been dealt with. Did he have any doubt? Any private, treacherous thoughts? Perhaps but he could ill afford to hesitate now. Later, after it was over he will have time to beat himself over his actions, of acting just like the mafioso he used to accuse of not caring about their subordinates. He would grovel for forgiveness but not now.

Tsuna forced an impassive mask over his face as he arrived at the meeting place with five minutes left before the deadline. He was completely alone but he had no doubt his blackmailers would pop up soon enough. As he looked around, noting their surroundings and watching for anything out of place, his attention turned back to the large tree on the other side as he heard the soft sound of leaves moving.

"Yo-ho, Tsuna-kun! Did you miss me?" a boisterous voice called out to him, the owner of the voice sounded like she was in a very good mood.

There, perched on a branch just like the last time he saw her was Mei, waving at him with an eagerness that reminded him of a certain bomber. But his attention was drawn to the second figure, standing at the base of the tree with a passive look on his face, arms crossed over his chest.

He was massive, there was no other way to say it. He knew a few large guys, Leviathan of the Varia coming to mind but even he would look like a little kid next to this guy. Heck, if he was wearing a gas mask with a black goat, he would have thought Spanner made a new Gola Mosca.

He was strong, there was no doubt about that. Despite not showing any killing intent and making no threatening moves, Tsuna's instincts were telling him he was equally as dangerous if not more than Mei. And while this was well within his plans, he would lie if he said he wouldn't have liked being proven overly paranoid.

"Greeting, Sawada Tsunayoshi-dono." he greeted Tsuna with a polite nod of the head, uncrossing his arms and taking a single step towards him. His voice was rough as if he wasn't used to speaking very much but for all the politeness, Tsuna couldn't help but tense as he watched him warily. "This is the first time we meet face to face. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Saru. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

'That's just great' Tsuna thought with a barely held back grimace, already knowing what type of man this Saru was. He was the kind who would act all gentlemanly, high, and mighty despite the things he does to get what he wants. And when things didn't go his way, he would be the first to lose his cool and act in anger.

Honestly, while thankfully he had relatively few meetings with other mafia bosses during his tenure as the tenth Vongola candidate, he had a few run-ins with a man like Saru and it was honestly not an experience he liked in any way. Those old men who felt like the kings of their little hills were unreasonable and way too quick to try and make themselves put above others, that was what Reborn told him after a particularly frustrating and fruitless meeting.

Personally, Tsuna preferred men like Xanxus who at least didn't try to hide their dislike of you and would be the first to tell you if they had a problem with you. He could appreciate that, especially since the fabled Vongola Intuition served well as a lie detector most of the time and in the mafia, one tends to value honesty over most other things.

"Let's just cut the chit chat, I hate boring formalities like that." he answered in the end, doing his best to keep his face as impassive as he could, which was easier than done considering the circumstances. "Though I should be honored that you chose to show up. Is there any more of you, Maybe hiding around here to catch me off-guard if I try anything?" he asked, making a deliberate motion of looking around.

"No." was the simple reply from the large man while Mei began to giggle to herself and seemingly stopped paying attention to their conversation.

"I see. Then I suppose they are keeping an eye on Kurumu, making sure you have a hostage to use, am I right? That's a textbook ransom, I tell you, my tutor would be proud." he asked instead, not in a particular hurry. "Though I have to tell you, stealing our club's manuscript is a low blow, even for you guys. It's like stealing candy from a baby, it's just unethical."

Unfortunately, he could only hazard guess how much time it would take for Tsukune and the others to find Kurumu and to get her out of the enemy's grasp for the second phase of his plan to work. Until then he needed to buy as much time as possible, though he knew it was only a question of minutes until he was forced to fight. Ah well, no risk, no gain.

"Enough!" the words were softly spoken but still carried enough power for Tsuna to tense on instinct and Mei to stop letting herself be distracted. Saru glared at the human, taking a simple threatening step. "There is no use stalling, or your precious friend won't like the consequences. Did you bring the bullets?"

Tsuna frowned, though he honestly didn't expect to gain much time by chit-chatting, one can always hope for a monologuing villain. He held up the briefcase, not missing how the large man's eyes lighted with greed at the sight of it. It wasn't that surprising, with how much the Vongola protected its secrets and power, a simple dying will was worth more than entire plots of lands.

"Sheesh, not even an old-style bantering? You guys are making it even sadder than it should be. Yes, it's here, though I kind of think it's better if it stays with me." he said, lowering the case next to him, a defiant expression appearing on his face. In an instant, both youkai's mood visibly soured.

Meanwhile, he used the movement of his arm, to subtly check the time on his watch, showing he somehow needed to stall for two more minutes before his next distraction came. Easier said than done.

"You seem to misunderstand, Sawada Tsunayoshi. You don't have a choice. Hand over the bullets." Saru said with a threatening undertone, slowly losing his composure.

"Can I beat him up now Saru?" the girl asked, still having an eager smile, though the look in her eyes was replaced by something much darker and predatory. If Tsuna had to make an educated guess, Saru was the brain of the operation and strong enough by himself to gather people around him but the real threat was Mei.

"You know despite my low test scores I'm not an idiot. There is no point handing it over to you since you will simply kill me once you get it. Lose and all that. Plus, I have a feeling I also have a bounty on my head that you would love to collect." it was nothing but a very subtle twitch on Saru's face but it was more than enough to confirm his suspicions. "So there is a bounty. Have a few guesses of who could have posted it but it can wait. I rather fight and die than roll over and just give up, there's your answer." Tsuna stated with a smirk that angered Saru so much that he was visibly having a hard time holding himself back.

For a moment all of them just stared at each other, bodies tensing at the inevitable fight but none of them made the first move just yet. Saru was still cautious of Tsuna, too many failed to defeat him in the past because of underestimating, Mei was waiting for his signal and Tsuna still had a minute he needed for his 'backup'.

"Does that mean the life is your friend means nothing to you? It's a very cruel thing, though coming from a former mafia boss it's not surprising at-" the large man began to say but was cut off by Tsuna as his impassive mask shattered showing the fury he felt deep down by this whole fiasco as he bared his teeth at them.

"Don't you dare lecture me when I know well enough you planned to kill Kurumu no matter the outcome, same as me." he yelled, losing his cool as he instinctively took a fighting stance but managed to stop himself from doing anything drastic just yet. It was a near thing,

Saru may not have known but he really touched a nerve there. But it was enough that it put the smug expression back into Saru's face, feeling as if he was once again in control of the situation.

The lack of response to his claims from either of the youkai in front of him was telling enough, and Tsuna gritted his teeth as he tried his best to rein in his anger, especially when Mei began to look bored. The soft growling from Natsu's ring was the only thing that reminded him to get back on track.

"I accepted the darkness that came with a mafia, much to my chagrin." he started to say, much calmer, thanks to his partner's presence. "As much as I loved to preach I would never join in my younger days, I admit I have sunk into their level. That's fine." suddenly his ring caught fire as Natsu emerged from the ring and settled down on his right shoulder, growling furiously at Saru and Mei as a dark look resurfaced in Tsuna's eyes. "If I have to lie, cheat, or bloody my hands for the sake of my friends so be it. Later, I will ask for forgiveness, for becoming the very thing I swore not to but I won't let anyone get away with threatening my friends. You made a grievous mistake. You cornered me and threatened the few remaining friends I have. Didn't the Todd tell you? Never anger a Vongola because the wrath of one is not a nice thing."

In reaction to his words, Mei jumped down from her perch, landing next to Saru in a crunch, red dusting her cheeks as her mouth curved into a large smile.

"Are you done talking, Saru? Can I kill him now? Pretty, pretty please?" she asked, though she kept her eyes on Tsuna, a disturbing desire burning in them that made him unnerved. It was easily Mukuro level creepy.

Saru sighed and much to the human's confusion began to unbutton his shirt while his skin turned to grey and less rotund for the lack of a better term. By the time he was done and threw the shirt to the side, his body seemingly transformed into solid stone, the only thing that didn't change was his hair much to Tsuna's confusion.

"I guess negotiations could be considered broken down. How unfortunate." he lamented with a sigh but Tsuna could see the bloodlust hiding underneath all that fake politeness. He would have chosen this even if Tsuna was willing to cooperate, to prove to others or himself his strength. "Mei, if you would."

At his words, the girl practically exploded into motion charging, no, simply jumping forward to Tsuna her right arm drawn back to a punch. She practically disappeared from the space she was a moment before, so fast she was. If Tsuna wasn't aware of her speed from yesterday he would've been completely caught off-guard. Even with that, it was still a little hard to follow her with his eyes alone, despite charging at him in a straight line.

His intuition flared up, warning him of the danger but Tsuna only gave a confident smirk and forced his body not to move. Unnoticed by either Mei or Saru, on the watch, Tsuna wore on his wrist, the minute arm arrived at 12 at that precise moment.

At that moment Mei finally closed the distance between them, appearing in front of Tsuna aiming to take his head off with her punch but someone or something got between them, causing her eyes to widen but had no time to change the direction or do anything.

With all her strength she punched something metal, a loud sound ringing in the whole clearing but whatever it was it did not give, even to her strength, standing firm in front of Tsuna. The human in question narrowed his eyes as he felt his hair being ruffled by the sheer wind generated by Mei's punch and had to re-evaluate her opinion of her. She was not only faster than almost anyone he encountered here but she was far stronger than her frame suggested. Though he was sure Moka in her released state would have no trouble with her, for him in his current state, it complicated things.

"What the?" Mei asked in disbelief as she jumped back. Saru who made no move, apparently confident of his associate's strength to easily defeat Tsuna was similarly shocked.

As the dust, created by her punch dissipated, the two of them were further surprised that the metal object Mei stuck turned out to be a large box that was carried by a younger-looking student. They didn't see the student's face because he was facing away from them, turning to Tsuna who watched the events unfold impassively.

The new arrival was a young man, wearing the school's uniform with a small bag held in front of his chest and the large, metal box on his back. He had rather tanned skin, an athletic physique with ruffled, black hair with burgundy tips, combed back to expose his forehead, and wide, dark red eyes with white pupils. He also has a scar on the top left of his forehead. Overall, at first glance, he looked completely harmless and weak but neither youkai got where they were today by underestimating their enemies. Especially after he blocked a blow from Mei as it was nothing special.

"Excuse me for the intrusion." the unknown teen apologized furiously, bowing both to Tsuna and the two members of the Todd family, before pulling off the box from his, placing it down next to himself with a thud. "I'm Tontaro Itadaki from the Post Office Club, I'm here to deliver a package to Sawada Tsunayoshi." he explained eagerly after checking a paper he held in his hand.,

-0-

"Captain? Is everything alright?" one of the members of the karate club asked hesitantly, after sharing an uncertain look with his fellows.

Haiji could be called many things, slave-driver in the foremost but the captain of the karate club was always punctual about his training. He may have started well before anyone else but when the time for their club activity came, he would be there to pummel, er teach them. Yet now, their training should have started five minutes ago but instead of working them to the bone, their captain simply sat on the tatami in seiza with a contemplative look on his face.

The brave soul that decided to question Haiji went to try again after his captain stayed silent but was silenced when the man held up a hand, a moment later the man stood up, an unusually serious and intimidating air around him.

"Kosube." he called out to one of the older members of the club, a second-year student who immediately nodded his head, showing he was listening. "Please, lead the training for today, I have some business, though hopefully, I will be back before long." he told them, and without waiting for an answer he walked out of the dojo, still in his training gear.

What none of them saw was the eager grin on his face as he walked toward the school building, particularly toward a somewhat secluded part behind it.

"Don't keep me hanging Sawada. I want to see what you are like when you are serious." he muttered to himself, an eagerness inside that he didn't feel like since a long time ago. The last time was when he first encountered the Siren with Ginei when the latter was still called Mad Dog.

And here he feared his second year in school would be a boring one.


	15. Showdown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was one of my already completed chapters, I will now become silent for a while, working on the next chapter. Thanks for the support you shown me here.  
>  Despite my initial plans, the battle between Tsuna's group and Saru, Mei and Shikaku drags on even longer. I hope you are enjoying it, I'm having a lot of fun writing in, though I also wish to advance with the plot. I also began starting a sort of side-story at the end of the chapter. It was originally a long, stand-alone chapter but I thought it would be better to release it in parts as a side-story so I won't have to stop with progressing the Rosario side of the plot.

"You are exactly the type that I absolutely hate! Do you think you are such a big shot with that stupid power of yours and girls hanging around you? Well, I will tell you that you are nothing more but a stupid, insolent nobody. And someone like you has no business hanging around my Kurumu-chan." Nagare panted as he glared at Tsukune a few feet away, trying uselessly to pour out more of his poison gas while his body was busy sweating out the oily substance which was solely responsible for his avoiding being squatted by an enraged Tsukune.

"Please, as if you have any business telling who can be around me." Kurumu shot back furiously despite lying on the ground, barely able to move. Let it never be said she wouldn't think twice badmouthing idiots despite her situation. "And for your information, my Tsukune is a hundred times the man you are, he is my Destined One after all."

The teen in question didn't have a witty comeback on his lips and could only offer an animalistic growl as Tsukune tried his very best to cling into the fading embers of the dying will flame. Unfortunately, several minutes passed since the start of this 'battle' without anything to show for it, neither side able to score a direct hit. The flames on his forehead almost completely disappeared and he knew if that happened, despite his slightly better than average human fitness level, he would have no chance of winning.

They found themselves stuck at the moment, both of them unable to land a decisive blow or incapacitate the other.

Tsukune while he had the power to easily defeat Nagare was unable to land a hit thanks to the slug's ability to slip away from him at the last second. On the other hand, his opponent was simply lacking the strength to knock out the human. His usual tactics resolved the use of his poison gas which was unexpectedly rendered ineffective by Tsukune wild swings which picked up enough wind to disperse what his body could produce.

Gritting his teeth, Nagare tried his hardest to force his body to keep going. He was quite weak physically, his other abilities serving him well to get say if he ever found himself in a fight but this fight was not one he could lose. Not only would he lose his Kurumu-chan who he was convinced that belonged to him but he was also well aware of what Shikaku would do to him if he failed. And if nothing else he had a great sense of self-preservation.

Unfortunately, his body's ability to emit his poisonous gas was at its limit with nothing to show for it. That meant even his plan to tire Tsukune out so it would affect him was out of the window.

Behind the brunet he saw Kurumu trying to get up, her arms sluggishly but slowly responding to her commands, meaning the poison in her was wearing out too. Nagare gained a cruel smile on his face as a thought struck him. It was time for desperate measures.

Catching the two in front of him off-guard instead of running away like he did before, the slug youkai suddenly charged forward. Tsukune, while he felt something was off, decided to do the same, running forward, his right arm cocked back for a punch, planning to use this chance to end the fight finally.

Just when the two fighters were about to meet, Nagare caught him off-guard as he slowly dipped low, using the natural flexibility of his body to get under his guard but instead of exploiting the opening and dealing very little damage with his strength, he ran past him, his eyes fixed on his real target, the still mostly paralyzed Kurumu.

"If I can't get you, nobody will!" he yelled with a deranged laugh as his eyes flashed dangerously.

The girl's eyes widened, her mouth opening as if ready to scream but a moment later she abandoned it as she almost ended on her face again as her shaky arms collapsed under her, making it impossible for her to move in time. The dying will user roared as he tried to turn around and reverse his momentum but out of the of them, Nagare was the faster and had a headstart too, making the outcome a foregone conclusion.

Tsukune gritted his teeth as he reached out, trying to catch the elusive teen but he was simply too far away.

"Kurumu!" he cried out in worry, just as Nagare reached her.

Of course, the photographer didn't really plan on killing her just yet but she would be a perfect hostage, a goody-two-shoes like Tsukune wouldn't want her to come to any harm. It will ensure no funny business from him while also accomplishing what Shikaku wanted from him, keeping him safe from his wrath too. It was the perfect plan, something he should have tried much earlier.

Just as he felt his fingers about to close around her throat, he cried out in pain as he felt something ram into him and a moment later his entire body was filled to the brim with pain as electricity surged through him. An exceedingly long second later he felt his body land a few feet away but he couldn't even move a muscle without uncontrollable spasm running through his body, leaving him completely vulnerable. Unfortunately, the irony of being paralyzed similarly to his victims was not lost on him.

"Lambo?" Tsukune muttered in surprise as he stopped and watched Nagare being hit by much more electricity than the human or the youkai body is meant to endure by the young bovino.

The dying will flame on the top of his head dissipated as in his shock he lost hold of his diminishing power, leaving him as a perfectly normal human standing in the middle of a clearing in his underwear. It would have been as embarrassing as most times he ended up like this but he had a few more important matters at hand.

Somewhat dumbly, he looked at his previous opponent as he lay there on the ground, spasming and unable to even scream in pain but the grimace told him enough of Nagare's current condition. He then turned to Lambo who stood in front of Kurumu who was in a similar state of shock as himself. He had his strange horns equipped, and lightning surrounded his form, crackling dangerously around him as he glowered at the downed youkai.

Normally the boy looked so unassuming and more like a comedic relief to Tsuna's usual antics that he tended to forget that Lambo was quite strong in his own right and belonged to the hidden world where Tsuna acquired the dying will bullets. And while most of the time Lambo was just another tormentor of his during training, it was a big relief to see him here.

"Kurumu! Tsukune!" a worried voice called out to them, prompting both of them to look over to Moka running towards them with Yukari on her heels.

"What, what are you guys doing here?" the succubus asked with shock evident in her voice as she tried to sit up, only to be stopped as Moka crashed into her, throwing her arms around her neck and drawing her into a painful hug.

"You idiot." the vampire scolded her, even though she seemed to barely hold back her tears."Why didn't you say anything? We are your friends, we would have helped you. You shouldn't have shouldered this burden alone."

"Don't be so soft on her, Moka-nee. She had too much material go into that chest of hers, so her head is pretty empty, you need to make sure to spell it carefully so she would never think of idiocy like this next time." Yukari said in a grumpy tone as she arrived next to them but despite her words, she had her wand out and glared at the slug youkai, shaking in rage.

"You guys..." Kurumu muttered, trailing off as tears gathered in her eyes, touched by the gesture. Even after how she acted, they still came to her aid. "I'm sorry." she sobbed loudly as her weak arms came up to return Moka's embrace, all of the pent-up emotions of the last two days coming out as she savored the feeling of warmth the other girl came off.

"You guys came." Tsukune said with a warm smile, looking at the scene in front of him as he walked close to Lambo, though not so close that he would be hit by a stray lightning bolt. He had a minor sense of self-preservation after all.

Not that long ago he was worried that his group of friends he made in the newspaper group would tear into pieces, with Kurumu's strange behavior and Tsuna's refusal to be included but it seems he was wrong at doubting his newfound friends. He could definitely say he was never more glad to be wrong.

"Of course." the younger teen answered with a smile, though he still didn't take his eyes off the still unmoving Nagare. "Tsuna-nii always taught me that it's never wrong to help a friend, even if said friend didn't want the help at all." he added with a soft chuckle.

"That doesn't sound like him at all." the black-haired teen commented with a sweatdrop.

He knew that Tsuna did care about his friends, but he had a very subtle way of showing it. He did get the feeling from some off-handed comments to him that he used to be different before but he had trouble believing that, after all, he only knew him as the merciless trainer and fellow human in a school of monsters.

"There, there. It will be alright." Moka said softly to the still shaken succubus as she slowly stood up, helping Kurumu up as well as her body was still a bit uncoordinated. "We got you." she promised.

"Well if nee-san is so forgiving, guess I could forgive you too." Yukari commented with a nonchalant tone but couldn't hide the small smile on her face. "After all, you only have your enormous chest going for you, we shouldn't be surprised by your stupidity."

Kurumu gave her a wet laugh, seeing what she was trying to do but was too relieved by their presence to care.

"It's still better than being a flat, little, know-it-all girl." she sniped back with a brittle smile and Moka softly smiled while Yukari looked like she couldn't decide to get mad or laugh.

"He's getting up." Lambo said softly, his eyes narrowed as he looked forward.

Tsukune while being distracted by the scene in front of him heard him and looked in the direction he saw Nagare land, only for his eyes to widen in shock as he witnessed the slug youkai struggling to stand up.

His whole body was slightly burnt by the amount of electricity he was hit with, and he was clearly having a hard time even moving the slightest bit but it didn't stop him. It looked like the slime his body was producing something canceled at least part of the attack otherwise he would have been knocked out. Tsukune knew that from experience, being hit by Lambo's electrico cornata.

"Guess we have to postpone the touching reunion." Tsukune muttered to himself as he steeled himself, even knowing how much over his head he was with his dying will deactivated.

Even knowing the risks it contained, his hand still closed around the pill container, ready to grab one if worst comes to worst. He conveniently decided not to think about how did the dying will pills remained on his person, despite all of his clothes save for his underwear getting shredded before, or how all of his boxers appeared to gain a back pocket overnight. He feared the answer and decided that ignorance was bliss.

"Damn you." Nagare spit out with a venomous glare as he raised his head towards them."Why do you have to get in my way? Why can't you leave things alone? You are ruining everything." he yelled at them as he tried to take a step in their direction, only falling to his knees as his body gave out, grunting in pain.

He didn't look like he could cause much harm in his current state, still, it prompted Moka to stand in front of Kurumu protectively, glaring at the half-baked slug with anger.

"Stay away. We won't let you do anything to Kurumu any longer." she declared, despite knowing she was not that much stronger than Tsukune while her powers were sealed and Tsuna, the only one able to remove her limiter was nowhere to be found.

"One of these days, your recklessness will be the death of us." her other self snarked as she could only watch from inside the seal, her frustration evident.

Lambo didn't say anything, only keeping a vigilant watch on the injured youkai, though Tsukune saw from the corner of his eyes a somewhat uneasy expression on his face as he lowered his head, readying himself for another chance with his electric attack if it was needed.

Not that Tsukune believed there was any need for that. Considering how fatigued Nagare must have been after their relatively short scuffle and tanking one of Lambo's attacks, he knew from experience that it was more than enough to take out from most people. And it was obvious looking at his state he won't be able to try anything serious.

"Shut up! You don't get to judge me." Nagare said as he glared at them with sheer hate, a completely deranged look in his protruding eyes.

Tsukune instinctively took a step back in shock, that look was nothing like it was before, it was as if he went over the edge and finally snapped. He couldn't deny the uneasy shiver as the look turned to him after staring Moka down for a long moment.

"Popular, strong ones like you have no idea where I come from." he raged at them as he fell on his face and tried to crawl toward them, prompting everyone to take a step back. It was not a pretty sight. "If you are not born into the right race, if you are not strong or charismatic you will be ridiculed from the start, never given a chance to be anybody. You ran around, laughing and having fun and I despise you for it. Why can you have it if I can't? If I go near anybody, they turn away in disgust just because of what I am. Why should I try if I am destined to fail? Don't look at me as if you knew what it means to be the bottom of the barrel." he continued to yell, his glare jumping from person to person.

A part of Tsukune could sympathize with that, knowing he was on the bottom of the social ladder in his middle school, and he would have surely died in this school if it wasn't for the friendships he made but that thought was soon squashed off. In the end, it came down to choice and Nagare made the decision to blackmail Kurumu, to torment and use her selfishly.

It was a pitiful and disturbing sight, yet he couldn't feel it in himself to truly feel bad for him, after what he tried to do to his friend. To Kurumu. The tears in her eyes, the relief she greeted him when he appeared, only cemented his resolution.

Looking at the others they all had a strange mixture of pity, disgust, and disbelief of him blaming the world for the situation he was in, instead of owning up what he did and face the consequences. Kurumu was the worst off, bod still trembling slightly and clinched the back of Moka's shirt as she glared at him with revulsion.

Ultimately it only seemed to anger the youkai slowly crawling toward them even more.

"Don't look at me with those eyes! You are the worst of them all Kurumu! You used me when it was convenient for you and dropped me the first chance you got. You belong to me, it may turn to use you! And when I'm done with you-"

He was abruptly cut off as someone appeared behind him out of nowhere and stomped down on him so hard that the ground under Nagare cracked up and he let out a bloodcurdling scream.

"What in the?" horrified, Tsukune and the others could only watch as Shikaku stood on the photographer's back, making sure to leave a perfect dent in the form of his body in the ground with a cruel smirk on his face.

After a long moment, Nagare stopped screaming and could only give out low whimpers as tears streamed out of his eyes, prompting the short boy to step off of him none too gently and turning to his audience with an impassive expression.

"Good grief. Just when this pitiable charade was getting even mildly entertaining, you had to go and ruin it. Guess, I'll have to handle you personally. Don't try to die too fast on me," he told them, at the end his mouth stretching to a smirk.

He was facing them, completely relaxed with his hands in his pockets but even so, Tsukune couldn't help the shiver that ran through his spine. Shikaku radiated a presence that made him freeze in his tracks and feeling as if a wrong move could end his life before he noticed it. It may have not been as strong as the one Moka radiated when she was released but it was terrifying all the same.

"Just who is this guy?" he muttered to himself.

"Get ready, Omote. This one means serious business" Moka's vampire side warned as she regarded the small teen through the seal. "Without removing the rosary, you will have no chance against him."

-0-

"Are you kidding me?" Mei asked in a low voice, with barely restrained anger as she stared at the scene in front of her. "What kind of interruption is that? Aren't things like that supposed to only happen in anime?" she raged, much to Tsuna's amusement.

In front of her and Saru stood their target Sawada Tsuanoyshi and a little older looking boy in some kind of postman uniform who appeared out of nowhere and blocked her attack that would have ripped off that annoying head of Tsuna from the rest of his body, with a large box of all things.

Tsuna made a big show-off of looking at his wristwatch to check the time, suggesting that all of that was according to some plan of his, even giving them a taunting smirk. Saru only grunted, hiding most of his anger behind a calm facade but the mafioso was able to see through him and was pleased with what he saw. An angered enemy was one that would be easier to fool, after all.

Natsu softly growling on his shoulders brought him out of his thoughts, the sky lion looking curiously at Itadaki who returned the look with his own large eyes unblinkingly. Tsuna found it hilarious and would have laughed if the situation wasn't so serious.

"I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi." he spoke up softly to regain Itadaki's attention, the postman teens turning to him in an instant."But I have to say I'm impressed by the Post Office Club. I heard it was advertised as able to deliver on the dot but to arrive at just the specified minute to a hidden spot in the school is really remarkable." he said pleasantly, not in a particular hurry to move things along.

Itadaki returned the smile sent on his way and chuckled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head with his free hand. He had an unassuming, harmless air about him that was rare in the academy. Honestly, Tsuna wouldn't be surprised to see him back at Namimori, delivering newspapers on a bike with a large, happy smile on his face.

"Of course, our club prides itself in our punctuality and reliability, nothing less is acceptable for an aspiring postman." he admitted proudly before his cheeks reddened and looked away in embarrassment. "Though I'm still new at the club so understandably I got the easier assignments for the time being but I hope I can prove my process as a member of the post office club. Almost forgot, please place your signature here." he said, handing him a paper and a pen, to accept the package, even if it came from himself.

"Thank you." Tsuna accepted the paper and went to skim through it, a habit that Reborn took great lengths to instill in him. "Incidentally, our club is about to print its first newspaper, could it be possible to acquire your club's assistance to bring a few papers to each of the dorms? Even those farther away?" he asked in a conversational tone while he took the time to leave a few compliments at the review section of the paper.

It may have a little to do with the barely restrained rage on Mei's face or the sheer annoyance that Saru tried to hide. They tried to blackmail him, currently trying to kill him, he was allowed to be pretty especially since he still needed to stall time for Lambo and the others to deal with whoever is after Kurumu.

"I don't see any problem with it but you have to talk with the president about it:" Itadaki replied with a smile as he returned his curious if a little naive gaze to Natsu who stared at him silently."You have a very beautiful cat." he blurted out sheepishly.

Natsu proudly displayed himself on Tsuna's shoulders, meowing in appreciation in being recognized. While he and his partner shared a lot of characteristics, Natsu was still a cat at heart and loved being pampered.

"He is more like a lion than a cat. He is a faithful companion and friend, his name is Natsu." he answered in the end, giving a fond look to the sky lion who returned it with a purr.

Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on who you asked, this little domestic interaction was the nail in the coffin, Mei's restraint came loose. With an enraged yell, she charged forward once again, intending to finish what she started.

Tsuna tensed as he noticed it, readying himself to dodge the attack but was proved to be unneeded when Itadaki simply moved. Without looking at it, he grabbed Mei's wrist just as she was about to land her hit, effortlessly stopping her in her tracks. Saru, Mei, and Tsuna looked at the deceptive looking teen in complete surprise, though Tsuna's expression soon turned slightly smug.

"What the heck are you?" the slightly psychotic girl asked, trying to get away from his grip but soon let out a grunt and fell to her knees as Itadaki put a little more force into his grip.

"Please don't interrupt, it's important post office business." he said in a serious voice, the smile leaving his face as he stared down the girl who fruitlessly tried to get free."You are free to continue where you left off after I finished handing over the requested package and went my way. Thank you."

With his piece said, he simply grabbed her with his other hand, picked her up with ease, and threw her at Saru, the large stone golem barely able to catch her, and even took a step back from the sheer force of the throw.

Tsuna remained tense before he forced himself to relax before Itadaki deemed him as someone hostile. It was clear he was much stronger than his frame suggested but even with being aware of that, he was still caught off-guard with the ease he deflected Mei, whose speed and strength was nothing to sneeze at.

"That's some strength." he praised before turning a sly smile on the teen."Guess you won't be joining in this conversation because you were attacked, am I right?" he asked and noticed the flash of worry on Saru's face from the corner of his eyes.

Turning sheepish, Itadaki shook his head, accepting the signature paper before handing him the large, heavy package.

"I'm sorry I would love to help but I'm still a first-year and the new guy at the club so I have a tight schedule to keep." he said apologetically and Tsuna could detect he was truly honest, he would help if he could. "All I could do is wish the best to you."

The human tried to keep his surprise hidden as best he could, shocked by the admission. He was a first-year? He did his best to subtly check around for the stronger players of the school to avoid pissing off someone so strong but it seems he missed one, a fellow first year at that. It seems he was getting rusty in his information gathering skills.

"It was a far-fetched idea anyway." he said instead, chuckling, showing he understood. "Well, this box will be more than enough, thank you for delivering it."

"It was my pleasure. Have a nice day and if you survive feel free to ask for our club's services." Itadaki said with a big smile, sending the still stunned Saru and Mei a cheerful wave and a moment later he was off, running at speed probably none of them could match to where his next delivery lay.

That left Tsuna along with Natsu and two pissed off youkai who definitely wanted his head now if they didn't before. Despite that, almost without actual thought, he hid his worries behind a cocky smirk.

"Thank you for your patience, it was most kind of you to wait for me to finish with my business." he told them with a slight mocking in his voice. He wasn't entirely sure but it looked like Mei was so red from rage she looked like she would catch fire any moment.

"Is this a game to you, Sawada Tsunayoshi?" Saru asked with a low growl, his annoyance and impatience showing through the calm mask he desperately tried to keep on.

"Well, you guys seem hell-bent on killing me, so sue me. If I'm going out, I'm going out with a bang." he told them with a smirk, opening the lid of the box, whistling as he examined the contents. "I mean I knew what will it be in it since I packed it but damn, that looks nice." he kept up his commentary to draw attention away from him fishing out a small object from the box before closing it and grabbing one of its straps he put it on his back with a barely suppressed grunt.

It was a lot heavier than Itadaki made him but thankfully while he trained Tsukune, Tsuna didn't just laze around but trained on his own to keep himself in shape so it was manageable. It would be a pain to move with but it was better than letting it go after getting through all the trouble to get it delivered to him.

While he wasn't exactly unarmed before, he knew that in this situation there was no such thing as overkill, and needed as much of an edge against them as he could get his hands on.

"Just what's in that box?" Saru demanded as he took a step forward with an intimidating glower. It may have worked if he wasn't used to much scarier people staring down at him. Moka's vampire side came to mind for some reason.

While the stone golem seemed to be cautious, Mei, on the other hand, looked ready to pummel him to death at that very moment if not for the large hand on her shoulder, making her stop reluctantly. It, however, didn't stop the death glare sent his way. They were clearly divided on what sort of action to take and that hesitation was one that he wasn't afraid to exploit.

"Well if I showed up armed and ready, I would have been at a massive disadvantage. I needed a way to even out a field and thankfully the post office club is a rather trustworthy one. Wasn't even a second late." he told them before Natsu's warning growl had him instinctively jumping back and just in time.

The black-haired girl wrenched herself off of Saru's grip and charged forward once again, believing the third time's the charm, wanting to finally punch that annoying smirk off of that human's face. Much to her frustration, she only seemed to hit the air as Tsuna moved at the last second, dodging her. She was about to chase after him when she noticed a small object in the space between the two of them, a grenade of all things.

With a frustrated growl, Mei jumped back, trying to get out of the explosion. While youkai are resistant to conventional human weapons like firearms and explosives, they weren't immune so it could still deal damage to them, especially used by someone trained to use them properly. As much as she would have loved to charge and whether the blast, she was not foolish enough to underestimate this tricky opponent.

She was even more shocked when instead of an explosion, only a thick smoke emerged from the grenade, in a few seconds blanketing the whole clearing in a smoke cloud that completely obscured her vision.

"Where are you hiding, you coward?" she demanded angrily as she swiped blindly in the direction she last saw the former Vnogola but as expected she found nothing, only further angering her.

Saru frowned as his vision was drastically reduced. He went after Mei when she finally lost the last of her patience, much slower but it suited him more than well, it allowed him to watch Tsuna for any trick he tried to pull. Still, even he was caught off-guard by a smoke-screen and he was forced to stop after taking a few more steps, lest he charges into Mei or goes in the wrong way.

"What do you think you can accomplish with little tricks like that other than stalling the inevitable?" he asked, straining his senses, to find their elusive prey."You have nowhere to run where we can't find you and your friends aren't here to help you."

"Oh, I don't know about that." Tsuna's voice rang out around them but much to their annoyance it seemed to bounce around, making it hard to determine where it came from."You would never believe the skills you can pick up simply by living with various hitmen. If nothing else, I will make it harder for you to get paid."

That did not help to calm the black-haired girl, Mei growling in frustration as she started to swing wildly, hitting nothing but air. At least her powerful punches started to speed up the dispersion of the smoke around them and Saru was not about to let this chance slip from his fingers.

Sawada Tsunayoshi wasn't fleeing the clearing or he wouldn't have taunted them, instead of using the first chance he got. Meaning, he planned to deal with them here and now. It suited Saru just as well, he found something admirable in the ability to take a stand and fight instead of running, even if there was no chance of him defeating the both of them.

While Mei raged, Saru finally caught something moving in the corner of his eyes. Not wanting to miss this chance, he launched himself toward it, no longer thinking about going easy on the human but how nice it will feel to crush his head in his hand. Maybe if he wasn't so impatient and annoyed by Tsuna's antics, he would have thought about the possibility of whatever he saw being a trap or another trick.

That's why he was surprised when instead of flesh, his fist hit something metal. With his strength and durability, the metal gave out just as easily as flesh, he still noticed the difference between the two.

He looked down to inspect what he struck, the fading smoke making it easier. It seemed instead of Sawada Tsunayoshi, his fist went through the metal box that was brought to him and the tree it was propped next to.

Next to it, he saw the discarded vest of Tsuna laying on the ground, probably what caught his attention in the first place. Saru growled in frustration at being duped by that annoying human and vowed to make his death a really slow one to pay back the humiliation he suffered.

With his free hand, he grabbed the edge of the box, to rip his arm out of it. Without any exertion it came out, a small object following out. Looking down to inspect it, he was horrified to see a grenade land on the ground next to him. Turning to the hole he made on the box, he saw at least half a dozen explosives sitting there.

All of them were primed.

"Son of a-" he growled before this time an actual explosion cut off his words, a large boom ranging through the clearing and even sending Mei to the ground who was farther away.

The girl stood up with a grunt, angrily shaking her head in an effort to clear it. She was only caught by the edge of the explosion and suffered nothing more than a few scrapes and bruises. She looked toward Saru and held back a wince at the shape he was in.

His clothes were burned but his stone body saved him from most of the damage but not all of them. His chest and arm were full of cracks and one look at his face showed how much pain was in. The worst was his right hand that was missing two fingers, probably the hand he raised to shield his face from the blast.

A beastly growl came from the large man as he struggled to his feet, looking around wildly. Thanks to the explosion the smoke from earlier was blown away completely, showing an empty clearing aside from them. But Tsuna was nowhere to be found.

"Sawada, I'll swear I will make it slow. I will make you suffer and beg for death and I'm not giving it to you until I'm satisfied." he yelled to the air, all semblance of restraint and patience have gone from his face. "You will die, Sawada!"

As the large stone golem began to rage around blindly, Mei had an excited look on her face. She closed her eyes and took a large whiff of the air, before her eyes snapped open and turned toward the nearby forest, the smell of Tsuna definitely heading that way.

She couldn't hold back the predatory smile on her face as she signaled Saru in the direction their hit was running.

"Let the hunt begin." she purred as she started to follow the trail.

-0-

"Gao." Natsu's small cry informed him that his pursuers were on his trail, despite the distraction he caused with the explosives.

A small frown appeared on Tsuna's face as he ducked under a tree branch, careful not to lodge the small bag on his back into it. While he would have liked to gain a little more room to move with the use of that many explosives, it was still enough for him to begin the next stage of his plan.

When he packed the package he had delivered to himself, he put a small bag of grenades and a few more surprises so he could move with them more easily. Using most of the explosives to create a little room was the plan in the first place and it went down without a hitch.

This was where things would become more difficult. He no longer had a solid plan on how to proceed but had to wing it, according to his enemies' moves. He had to remain on guard and do his best to stay alive for the moment but more importantly, he had to hope that Tsukune and the others would be able to deal with things on their end.

"It's time to split up, partner." he said softly to Natsu, the cat growling in a low voice in agreement."I'm counting on you buddy."

His animal partner nodded seriously at that before jumping off of his shoulders to a nearby tree branch and with one last gao as a farewell started running toward his left. Tsuna stopped for a moment, looked in the direction Natsu went before going in the opposite direction, not wanting for Mei or Saru to go after Natsu when he was the more enticing prey.

As he ran, his eyes strayed to his wrist for a moment, where the watch he got from Dino rested. The sky and sun flames that he left inside were doing their job and though he could feel the fatigue from letting Natsu out of the ring, it was not too bad that he couldn't keep up, though he will have a lot of regrets come tomorrow. Still, it was a stop gag at best and the sooner this fight will be over, the better be for him.

Just as the thought ran through his head, his intuition flared up and without a pause to think about it, Tsuna jumped to the side, the tree he was just next to basically explode as Mei's arms punched through it like it was butter.

Cursing to himself, the former Vongola performed a quick roll not to lose his footing, not stopping even for a moment. His hand quickly went to his bag, grabbing two grenades and throwing them at his pursuer. He heard her growl in an otherworldly voice as they exploded, one a smoke grenade similar to what he used before, the other was a glue grenade whose main purpose was to slow her down.

"Tsuna-kun don't be so shy, let's be friends." she called out after him even as he got farther and farther away from her, the glue holding back even her strength, for the time being, her sweet voice sounding a little distorted. "Friends would have no problem with murdering each other." in the second part her voice turned pure demonic, a shiver running through his spine.

"Why do I always end up with the crazy ones?" he complained briefly to himself as he waded through the forest, periodically checking to see that the two youkai are still following him.

Here's hoping that everything goes according to plan.

-0-

"A storm is almost here, isn't it?" a young teen with silver shoulder-length hair that according to some people resembled an octopus, asked himself as he looked up at the sky that was covered in dark clouds.

He wore a white short-sleeved shirt, with black jeans and a studded belt. He also had a necklace with a menacing-looking skull at the end, and various rings on his fingers, making him look like a typical delinquent, especially with the smoking cigarette sticking out of his mouth. He was Gokudera Hayato, a few months ago proud right-hand man and storm guardian of the Vongola Decimo, Sawada Tsunayoshi.

Then the entire world turned on its head and that part of his life was seemingly over.

After the betrayal of Nono and the boss's father, their family fell apart. The others may not see it like that, choosing to concentrate on other parts of their lives but that was the truth. The loose cannons, Hibari and Mukuro were quick to jump ship, and the others followed in their own way and no matter how hard it was to admit, but in a way he did too, falling back to his old habits that he thought he got over.

He was loyal to the boss, there was no question about it. There was nothing in the world that would make him question his boss but he was mature enough to admit that he made a mistake. When the bonds between them were put into rest he assumed that he knew what his boss wanted and acted on it instead of waiting for him to give his orders. He did similar things when he was younger but he thought he grew past that, that he was a better right hand. Shows what he knew.

In retrospect, he had to laugh at how stupid he had been. Revenge? Avenging their honor? He knew his boss better than that, his first priority should have been making sure their family would stay strong and together, to act as the storm that holds and binds the other elements together to the sky.

By the time he realized this, it was already too late. Some of it was his pride talking, not wanting to come back empty-handed but the unrest caused by the brewing conflicts played a part in his decision. Also, he had to move carefully, to keep under Vongola's radar since few of their former allies could be trusted or were in a position to help. Not to mention that while his initial goals proved to be unachievable, he found a few interesting leads that were worth looking into.

As the first raindrops fell into his face, he gritted his teeth as he began to run, not wanting to get completely drenched in this sudden rainstorm, his plastic bag full of newly purchased groceries clutched close to his chest. A part of him wanted to snort at this picture, finding the irony of how much it resembled his life before he met the boss. Before he had a family to turn to.

When he ran away from home, his father's men tried to bring him back since even though he was a bastard, he was the male son of their boss. Back then, he used his rudimentary forgery and hacking skills to stay under the radar, drifting from one hideout to the other, while still seeking out other families to join and making a name himself as hurricane bomb. He could never find a place he felt he belonged, not until he met one Sawada Tsunayoshi.

The difference between that time and now, was that now he had to disappear completely, without letting out even a hint of his presence. And instead of his father's men, he had to avoid the vongola, cedef, even the varia since he is still not sure whose side they are on. Basically. most of the mafia could be a potential enemy.

It was a little more challenging but he was able to do it. Thankfully a couple of his hideouts still remained in Northern Italy, undiscovered by anyone, that he still was able to use them with various frequency in case someone tried to track him down. It was not an easy life, especially after experiencing what it meant to belong to a real family but he persevered through, for his boss and family.

He cursed as instead of letting up, the pour began to intensify, forcing him to find refuge under a shade, staying in place until the rain started to let up a little.

He thought about the last week, the changes, and most importantly, the sense of renewed purpose it gave him.

His boss contacted him and while he brought alarming news, since who could take on Reborn and come out victorious, he was also given new orders to look into the matter, using the memory card the hitman left to him. Though it annoyed him a little that he had to make contact with the bucking horse, the boss's orders were absolute.

His fist clenched tightly as he remembered making contact with the Cavallone and the things he learned from Dino. To learn that his Boss was poisoned made him furious and it was a pale silver lining that he was still up and standing despite the fact he should have died by now. It almost made him lash out, to hunt down anyone involved with the Vongola, mainly Sawada Iemitsu and Massimo Vongola. In the end, Dino was able to reason with him but it didn't stop Gokudera from risking stretching himself too thin by using the few contracts he had left from his freelance days to find a cure for the boss.

His world was further shaken by the confirmed existence of the supernatural which either validated or denied a few of his UFO theories. And to learn that his boss was alone, well with Lambo but who counts that brat, in a school for monsters, made him almost hurry back to Japan and his boss's side. And he wasn't jealous of his boss, not at all.

Of course, he knew that running back would help nobody so he went forward instead. Though in no means did it mean that in the pursuit of a cure, he let his other leads go cold. Just yesterday he moved to Firenze, taking a bit of a risk of moving too close to Vongola territory, trying to track down a certain engineer. At the same time, he began to decode the card left by Reborn, which led him to surprising discoveries.

The memory card was coded in a language based on his own G-script, with a mixture of the one his future version used in the future that Byakugan ruled. It was hard, even for him to correctly decode it, he doubted many people even had a chance to figure it out without the knowledge of his secret language. As expected of Reborn.

He briefly wondered how he knew both versions of the language he created when he was bored but he knew the hitman well enough not to ask. He would never get a straight answer.

Gokudera experimentally thrust his hand out in the open as he noticed that the rain slowed down to a nice drizzle. Deciding that he had enough standing around, he stepped out and began to once again follow one of the paths he made to reach his current hideout, with a lot of unnecessary detours in case he was followed.

But he wasn't, he confirmed a few moments later, which let him relax a guard a little bit and began to think about how much he learned from that memory card. Reborn was through, there was no question there. He was only able to go over less than a third of the information, it was so thoroughly encoded, with different keys hidden in different files, reminding him of Sistema c.i.a. in a sense but what little he found already made him worry.

Individually they were not so frightening or alarming at all. Indeed at first glance, it looked like ordinary things that happened in the mafia. In family A the leader died in poisoning, no sign of who did it. In family B, they changed alliances, betraying family C and allying with family D. Hitman from A was sent to hunt down target X but was killed by Hitman from B who was sent to kill Hitman A. Family Y was going bankrupt because Family Z encroached on their territory and stole most of their income.

The picture was further expanded by reports and communications Reborn included that he had with his various contracts, other hitmen, and even a few high ranking members in various families. He had no idea why these were included, since individually they did not make some sense, even if their very existence would be highly classified information. But together, along with the other data they painted a worrying picture.

Something was brewing in the world of the mafia, someone moving pieces in a way that war, a war that could even pull civilians and youkai into it as well, looks more and more unavoidable by the day. The question was what reason could something like this serve and who could profit in the whole world lighting up in flames? And it was less than a third of the info Reborn stored into the card, making Gokudera fear for what could be on the rest of it, even as the urge to go back to his boss's side grew harder and harder to resist.

He turned around a corner, the rain finally stopping altogether, leaving the roads full of puddles of various sizes. He walked straight forward, uncaring about his jeans or shoes getting wet since they were already drenched, questions running circles in his mind, making him a bit more obvious of his surroundings than he would have preferred.

Why would Reborn send this to Tsuna, when it was obvious he was the only one who could decode it in a reasonably short time and the hitman was aware he wasn't in Japan? Who could make Reborn disappear without any trace of a fight or a large amount of bloodshed? Just what was going on behind the scenes and how did it relate to them?

So engrossed the bomber was in his thoughts that he didn't notice the presence of a person behind the dumpster a few feet away from him, just next to the hidden entrance to his current hideout until said person gave a soft whimper that he only caught by chance.

Body tensing, he stopped immediately, carefully placing down the bag holding his groceries and filled his hands instantly with dynamite, ready to lit up use at a moment's notice. He was not a trained hitman for nothing, even if he got a little careless for a moment. He stealthily approached the dumpster, ready to act in the slightest suspicion of a trap.

He wondered who was able to find out about this hideout. The vongola, the cedef? Both of them had resources for it but he was also aware of their modus operandi and was able to stay undetected by them until now. A smaller, local family? They could notice something out of place much easier but all of them had better things to do than spy after a lone hitman. Maybe the people after Reborn? But they wouldn't make a rookie mistake like being found out so easily.

"Just who the heck do you think you are?" he shouted angrily as he lost his patience and jumped forward, his bombs ignited, for a moment losing his cool and acting recklessly. At least he had the presence of mind to bite back the curse that was on the top of his tongue. Sawada Nana was a naive woman in the eyes of most, who couldn't hurt a fly but try to curse in her and the kids' presence and you learn a new meaning of fear. Gokudera knew he was there enough times for the lesson to stick.

He expected many things. A horde of assassins, maybe a bomb, even the thought of Xanxus or one of the Varia lying in wait for him ran through his mind but what he found behind that dumpster was nowhere near anything he anticipated.

On the ground a female form sat, leaning on the dumpster and acting unaware of his presence. He doubted she was conscious, he even doubted if she was alive for a moment but her labored breathing and occasional whimpers convinced him of that. She looked really ill, pale and malnourished under all the grime and dirt that covered her form. She must have been some homeless girl who just found her way here, a coincidence, nothing more, he began to assure himself. He quickly extinguished his dynamites, though he refrained from putting them away in case any more surprises were waiting for him.

He was about to dismiss her when, as he watched her closely, he was hit by a sense of familiarity. Her clothes were green, cut up, and ruined beyond repair but it was definitely a school uniform, a uniform that he last saw in Japan, not in Italy. Furthermore, her dark blue hair, which was shoulder length and obscured most of her face looked familiar. But the final recognition came after he carefully crouched next to her and gently swiped her hair to the side, revealing an eyepatch on her right eye that had a battered-looking, once silver skull on top of it.

"Ch-chrome?" he asked in disbelief.

It was indeed one of the mist guardians of their family, Mukuro's little sidekick who followed after his shadow like a lost puppy. He had nothing against the girl, even the fact that she left their boss's side could be overlooked since her life was tied to Mukuro so if anyone was to be blamed. it was that stupid pineapple-haired illusionist.

She looked in a really bad shape, she was beaten up, probably was starving for days and he noticed with increasing alarm that her organs that were called existence by Mukuro's and later her own mist flames were fading gradually. And no matter how much he disliked it, he had to put aside his questions about what happened here, how did she get here and how did she find him, because she was on the verge of dying.

She needed mist flames to sustain her organs and fast. Unfortunately, while he had affinities to other types of dying will flames in various quantities, mist was one he couldn't use at all, he didn't even have a mist ring on him. But if he didn't hurry, his boss would never forgive him.

He could call the bucking horse, but he doubted Dino could send anyone in time since he was based in the south, and none of his own contacts could help him. Thankfully, being sort of apprenticed to Shamal gave a few more contracts to try. If he remembered right, one of them, a mist user at that was not far from him and they weren't really strong but hopefully, they were able to keep the girl's organs in existence until she was able to do it herself.

It will be a red signal for everyone looking for him if he didn't handle it correctly but this was a risk he had to take if he wanted Chrome to survive the evening and tell him what happened to her. She was usually accompanied by Mukuro's two loyal henchmen, watching over Mukuro's 'body' and the lack of their presence was not a good sign.

She whimpered as he picked her up, instinctively burying her head into his chest, mumbling into it in Italian, only every 3rd word making any sense.

"Boss...danger...kuro-sa...fairy..." she struggled for a time before all life seemed to leave her and fell completely unconscious.

"Don't you dare die on me, stupid girl or I will kill you myself." Gokudera threatened her as he began to run through deserted streets and out of the way alleys, his groceries long forgotten by the dumpster.


	16. Backed into a corner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsukune and the others face off against the newly revealed Shikaku, Kurumu awakens a new power, while Tsuna's plan moves into its last phase

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my dear readers, NainTarlow checking in
> 
> I’m extremely sorry for the late chapter but it’s finally done and we are almost at the end of the Blackmail/youkai hitmen arc. I’m sorry anyone who feels like this part dragged on a bit too long. It started out as me trying out different, little complicated things and it grew into such a large story. I could easily hurry it along and finish it with even half a usual chapter but I want to give the characters and the story the attention and detail I think it deserves after putting so much work into it.
> 
> So for those who had enough of it, hang in there, only one chapter left before I move on to Mizue’s introduction and then another large arc, the fight against the PSC guys. As for those who enjoyed this twist and the resulting conflict, I’m really thankful for your support.
> 
> I’m also continuing the side story, though its size is relatively small compared to the main chapter but it's mostly for setting things up for later and to show what happens to gokudera and best girl Chrome.
> 
> As always, I’m extremely thankful for the support, kudos, bookmarks and especially the comments. I appreciate every feedback, even negative ones, as long as they are constructive, so feel free to attack me with all you have.
> 
> Let’s get on with the chapter.

"Just who is this guy?" Tsukune asked in disbelief, as Shikaku observed them with a bored look.

It was as if they were nothing, not even a challenge to him. And from the shivers he got just from looking at him, the young teen was not so hopeful on their chances.

"Wait, Shikaku! I can still make it right, just give a chance, one chance. I can prove that I am useful." Nagare pleaded with a terrified tone but in response the teen only grounded his shoe deeper into the slug.

"Please, you outlived your usefulness a long time ago. Just lie there like the weakling you are. I’m merciful enough that I will kill you last. Don’t expect anything more.” he said to him as if he was talking about the weather. GIving a last kick to the downed slug, he turned to the newspaper group who watched in shocked silence.”Now where was I? Ah my grand entrance.”

"Just who do you think you are?” Yukari, looking as scared and unnerved by the new arrival as the others, was the one who asked, taking a step back in instinct when Shikaku turned his attention to her.

In response grinned at them, enjoying the unease practically radiated by them.

The worst off was seemingly Tsukune, who still felt fatigued by the use of dying will, barely able to stop himself from trembling. This guy, he was different from anyone else they faced before. Not just the sheer aura of danger radiating from him, after all he wouldn’t be the first person intending to harm or even kill them. It was the anticipation, the killing intent washing over them, threatening to drown them in it.

It was different from when they first faced Gin in his monster form. The man radiated a subtler sense of danger, a refined bloodlust, Tsuna called it, when he questioned him later. Shikaku showed no such restraint, letting all of it out as he grinned at them in sadistic anticipation. He wanted to hurt them, to kill them and had no intention of holding back.

His hand trembled terribly as he grabbed his container of dying will, Tsuna’s warning ranging in his ears. Despite that, he knew as a human he was too fragile to have any chance of actually standing up to him, he needed the power of dying will. Without that, he will definitely...

He was shaken out of his thoughts by someone tugging on his arm. Looking down, he saw it was Lambo, even though the younger kid didn’t look at him, his eyes never leaving Shikaku.

"Don’t worry Tsukune. This time, I will protect you guys.” he softly promised before he reached into his pockets and pulled out two familiar looking horns that he placed on his head.

"You will protect them? That’s rich coming from Sawada’s weakest guardian. What are you going to do brat? Cry? Maybe have your older version to try and stop me?” Shikaku, who heard him, asked in a mocking tone, laughing to himself.

Lambo didn’t give him the satisfaction of an answer, only glaring at him as small currents of lightning ran through his form, readying himself to battle. The others on the other hand, latched into one important piece of information that was let out.

"Wait, what does Tsuna have to do with anything?” Kurumu asked in a perplexed look as she hanged onto Moka.

Despite the poison slowly losing its effectiveness and allowing her to move, she was still unsteady on her feet, needing Moka’s support to even stand up. Yukari stood in front of them, ready to defend on them, despite how scared she looked. Tsukune and Lambo were next to them, the former having a foreboding feeling in his gut.

Hearing the question Shikaku couldn’t help but laugh. He laughed without a slightest care, his voice filling the clearing. It seemed to go on for a while, a lot longer than it should be warranted, prompting Kurumu to angrily cut him off.

"Just what’s so funny?” she demanded, raising her hand to point at him accusingly. Her arm shook a little from the sudden movement but she was able to hold it up firmly.

"You, you are funny. Guess that tricky former heir doesn’t trust you that much. Maybe you matter to him less than we thought? No matter, you will still die.” his psychotic smile made all of them take another step back. In response he walked closer to them.”But don’t worry, it’s nothing personal. My name is Shikaku and my group have a little bit of business with Sawada. That bimbo was just a convenient bargaining chip but with all of you lined up, I have so many choices. Maybe I will kill a few of you now, to pass the time.”

"Bargaining chips?” Moka asked with growing dread, not helped by the warnings of her other self.

If they were connected to Tsuna, does it mean they were humans? Or at least know of the hidden world that the otherwise aloof teen belonged to? They obviously wanted something from him if they went so far to go after Kururmu and by extension them. And what did he mean by former heir? But the worst was the hurt that she felt, asking herself why couldn’t he tell them any of this?

"I see. So you are one of the blackmailers after Tsuna-nii.” Lambo confirmed to himself. His voice was calm and controlled but a simple look on his face showed how enraged he was.

"Blackmail? Sure let’s go with that.” Shikaku’s smirk widened as he decided to share another piece of interesting trivia with them.”We will take everything of value from him that we can use for ourselves but no matter how much or how little he struggles he will be killed, that’s all. That is the way both of our worlds, the strong survive, while the weak are killed. He no longer has the protection of his family behind him, so he is easy pickings. As I said nothing personal.”

The girls and Tsukune gasped in shock. While a few students attacked them in the school before, none of them with the intent to kill or at least none of them seemed to have the strength to do so. But this Shikaku felt stronger than them and was too confident in his victory. And more than that, he seemed to know more about their brown-haired friend than themselves which was not a positive thought to have.

Before anyone could do anything harsh, all of their attention turned to Lambo who suddenly began to laugh to himself. It was not a happy laugh, it was full of anger and rage, something none of them saw in him before. It was an eye opening, since they hardly knew much more about Lambo than his big brother, maybe even less.

"Lambo?” Yukari called out to him, suddenly worried for her somewhat friendly rival for the honor of being the younger sibling of Tsuna.

"Do you honestly think you are the first ones to be after Tsuna-nii’s life.” he said instead, after he managed to gain control of himself.”Well you are not. You won’t be the last either and you won’t succeed. You made the mistake of trying to attack his friends and it will be your last. Whatever trap you may have set for him will not be able to hold my big brother. Meanwhile I will be your opponent.” he declared boldly, looking much older and mature than he usually appeared and it couldn’t be attributed to the bazooka either this time.

"We will see how confident he will be when I show him your corpse.” Shikaku said with a malevolent grin as he grabbed the top of his uniform, ripping it off his body, showing a lithe but chiseled chest.

All the girls had to withhold a blush at the sight. Despite being their enemy and by his attitude an absolute scumbag, Shikaku at least had an attractive body going for him and out of the three girls, two were hormonal teenagers and Yukari was simply Yukari. Meanwhile Tsukune, who started to gain a little muscle thanks to Tsuna’s tortu-, ahem, training, could only feel a little jealous.

Before their eyes, the smaller teen’s body changed. His skin turned a deep shade of red, his muscles bulged out slightly as if they could barely contain themselves inside his body, his hair turned even spikier black, with two large horns grew out of his forehead, facing forward. Large fangs growing out of his mouth, his face defaulting into a snarling expression.

"He is an oni.” Yukari said with realization as they watched Shikaku shed his human disguise to regain his full power.

While one might think it was a bit stupid and naive to simply watch him transform and not ttrying to defeat him at this moment of vulnerability, it was far from truth. For normal and weaker monsters the transformation barely lasted a second, leaving them relatively safe from a sneak attack like that.

For stronger monsters, it could take several seconds, depending how strong they were, how used they were changing between their two forms and skill in manipulating the youkai’s inherent power that is often described as a sort of aura. Their human forms were basically them lowering their basic powers to a minimum where they wouldn’t destroy or hurt the overly humans or everyday objects and help them blend in the human world. Of course it wasn’t foolproof, depending on the strength and experience of the youkai in question, there could be moments where a loss of control could happen, see Moka and her occasional burst of superhuman strength.

Because they keep their power at a minimum in human form, when they do release it and take their natural form, an explosion of sheer power accompanies them as they adapt, which acts as a natural defense barrier for the duration of that vulnerable state, a phenomenon that also occurs whenever Moka’s seal was released.

His transformation finished, Shikaku experimentally flexed his hands into fists, smirking at the sudden surge of power he felt course through him. It felt intoxicating.

"It’s been a while since I had an opportunity to shed that pitiful form. It feels good to let loose.” he commented to himself before looking up and smirked at the obvious trepidation on most of their faces.”I have no need to use my full power against you to end it in a moment but unfortunately, I always loved to play with my food.” he informed them with a sadistic grin. He shoved his hands into his still intact pants’ pockets, clearly not about to take them seriously.

"Okay, I get that he is an oni, but one a one to ten scale how screwed are we.” Tsukune asked in a low voice.

Without the dying will he was admittedly the weakest of them and he had the feeling that if Shikaku and whoever else with him knew about Tsuna’s past as he implied, they probably knew he was human too. Things didn’t seem to bode well for them and they didn’t have too many options.

"I would say around six or seven. Oni are strong. Not as much as vampires but they are still in the higher echelons as far as natural strength of youkai are concerned. Their hide is extremely hard to get through and they had an ungodly amount of endurance.” the witch answered, the most knowledgeable on various youkais out of all of them.She clutched her wand to chest but did not back down.

"So we are really in a tight spot and we don’t even have Tsuna to release Moka’s seal. Got it.” Tsukune nodded as he finally pulled out the container of dying will pills, his decision made.

It wasn’t like before. Unlike when they faced Gin or Kurumu this guy meant serious business and with their options limited, it was time to be reckless. Tsuna’s warning rang in his head and he would have lied if he told that he wasn’t afraid, because he was but it was something he needed to do. Without the dying will he would be a liability anyways, and deep in his heart, he still held out hope it was one of those times when the mysterious teen exaggerated instead of being truthful.

He was just about to pick out a single pill when Lambo’s voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Don’t worry Tsukune, I got this.” the kid, because in the end Lambo was still just a kid, told him confidently.

For the first time since Shikaku appeared, Lambo took his eyes off of him, to look back and smile back at Tsukune and the girls. He was confident despite being the youngest of them all, and the tense stance of his body.

Green colored lightning came from his horns that soon spread to the rest of his body. His hair puffed at a little but otherwise there was no harmful effect of it. His eyes flowed with a similar green color and he seemed to emit a certain feeling of power that somehow made all of them more at ease.

"Everything will be alright. My big brother isn’t the sort of person to leave his friends to fend themselves. I know that all of this is a part of his plan and he will come through. Until then I will be one to take on Shikaku.” he told them with a big smile, before turning back to his opponent.

"Huh. Some sort of plan it is.” the oni scoffed as he cracked his neck, preparing for a fight. ”Admit it kid, the former Vongola is way over his head, no way he could defeat both Saru and Mei. Even if he could, he still couldn’t arrive here to save the day before I finish all of you off. And believe me, I will.”

Despite the declaration, the former lightning guardian looked more amused than anything.

"It just shows you really know nothing of Tsuna-nii. He is the kind of person to reveal his true self when he is backed into a corner. Until then, I will be your opponent.”

Lambo pulled out a small ring out of his pocket that looked remarkably similar to the one Tsuna had, only it had the head of a bull instead of a lion in the center of it. The ring lit up with similar green lightning, it began glowing before a moment later a box animal, similar to Natsu appeared next to the grinning hitman.

It was a large black bull that was covered in armor with a strange crest on his helmet. He was large, easily dwarfing Lambo and Yukari, the shortest of their group. His eyes were green similar in shade to Lambo’s and he was covered in green lightning to the point that his black fur appeared to be green.

Lambo’s box animal huffed angrily as he stared down Shikaku who didn’t appear to be frightened in the least. On the other hand, the others with Lambo’s exception were looking at the large bull with astonishment.

"Is that paralysis comes with side effects or I’m really seeing a large bull coming out of Lambo’s ring?” Kurumu asked as she tried to wrap her head with the events happening right now and finding herself come a little short. It was a long day.

"He is just like Natsu.” Yukari found herself commenting in awe as she watched the majestic animal stare down the oni who returned it challengingly.

For a long moment, no one moved, no words were uttered between them, the only sounds were the muffled cries of Nagare and the lightning cracking around the forms of Lambo and his bull partner. They were done talking, Shikaku apparently had enough of humoring them and was ready to make good on his word, by beating them to an inch of their lives or even further. Tsukune braced himself, not letting go of the dying will in case he ended up needing it but still couldn’t help but find himself slightly trembling in trepidation.

For some reason, even in this moment of life and death, Tsukune’s brain still had spare brain cells to complain about feeling a bit chilly in nothing but his underwear. He blamed Tsuna for it, because he was convinced that the teen was responsible for some reason.

"I may be the weakest of Tsuna-nii’s guardians but it does not make me weak.” Lambo declared as he lowered himself into a charging stance.”Gyudon! Let’s show him not to take us lightly.”

The bull lowered his head in response, the lightning around him intensifying as he suddenly charged forward with a speed that belied his massive frame.

"Don’t disappoint me brat.” the red-haired teen bragged with a cocky smirk as he stood in place, making no move to dodge the attack that was coming.

Just as the bull was about to crash into him, he thrust his hands and grabbed hold of the horns pointed at him. His muscles bulged and he strained to hold off the massive amount of force that slammed into him, his heels digging into a ground, he carved a two wide trench into it as he was pushed back several feets before finally Gyudon’s charge was stopped, leaving the bull to roar angrily as he shook his head around, trying to free his horns from Shikaku’s grip.

He didn’t get out of it either. Since Gyudon was surrounded by lightning, a large amount of voltage went through his arms and the rest of his body, shocking him as he struggled to keep his already strained muscles from moving involuntarily. He let out light grunts of pain as he kept the bull in place, a slow trickle of blood stained Gyudon’s horns where the lightning powered attack managed to break through at least his skin.

Despite that, the oni looked far from defeated, though his cocky grin transformed into an annoyed grimace.

"So that’s the lightning type dying will’s property, hardening.” he cracked a grin as he examined the bloodied horns, even as the bull continued to struggle.”Not bad, I have to admit it. To think you could make me bleed. It may even be worth killing you last.”

"Lightning type?” Tsukune echoed in a confused tone, having never heard of it.

Since when did dying will flames have types? And was Lambo always able to use it? And just how did a youkai know about Tsuna’s secrets that he refused to tell even to them? What about that strange talk about an heir and family? Just how many more secrets Tsuna had?

He didn’t want to think about it before but Tsuna was always so tight-lipped with everything involving his past and while he didn’t want to push before, it was no longer avoidable. He resolved if they get out of this alive, he would no longer remain silent.

When they got out, he amended just as quickly, hoping to stay as positive as possible. After all, Lambo was pushing Shikaku back just fine and he was only just starting up.

"Don’t underestimate me, brat. You may have surprised me but it will not be enough to defeat me.” as if wanting to crush his hopes, Shikaku spoke up, as he began to push back Gyudon, despite the bull’s massive size and strength. He raised his head up to look at Lambo with a smirk when he noticed something.”Where did the brat go?”

At the least moment, Shikaku noticed Lambo charging at him from the side, his head lowered, similar to a bull’s. It was quite a clever plan, with him fighting with Gyudon, he was occupied enough to not be able to dodge effectively. If he noticed it a moment later, it could have become a direct hit, probably ending the fight then and there.

Unfortunately he noticed it just in time to counter.

With a roar, Shikaku started to pull on the horns in his hands, instead of pushing, causing the bull to lose his footing, giving the oni the upper hand. Showing off his superhuman strength, with a yell he raised Gyudon above the ground, his muscles appearing somewhat larger as he let his aura aid in overpowering the box animal. With the bull above ground, with a grunt he threw him at the charging Lambo, who let out a curse at seeing his partner flying toward him.

He quickly jumped to the side to avoid the bull thrown at him but he showed a certain kind of experience, because he was able to run toward Shikaku without having to break off his attack.

Still, the whole diversion provided a slight opening, Shikaku jumping back to avoid Lambo by a hair’s breadth. The corner of one of his horns still caught him, sending an uncomfortable jolt of electricity through his body and drawing a thin line across his chest.

Lambo still ran for a few feet before slowing down and finally stopping. He was slightly panting ,the lightning covering him receding to a minimum as he turned toward his opponent, his gaze defiant.

"You were so close but guess you just didn’t make the cut. My turn. Try not to die too soon.” Shikaku had a wicked grin on his face as he made a step toward him but looked down in confusion when he felt his foot bump into something.”What the-?”

Looking down he saw a pink grenade laying in front of him. Looking around his eyes widened as he saw around half a dozen of them around him, all of them missing the pins that were responsible for arming them. He looked up at Lambo, catching him with a smug smirk as he held up his hand full of those affromentined pins.

He didn’t have time to try and jump away, only to curse with rage written all over his face.

"Son of a-” that’s as far as he got before the grenades exploded and his form was swallowed up by the resulting smoke.

The large explosion rang through the clearing. It seemed Lambo was using stronger explosives than usual because Tsukune and the others had to shield their ears and faces from the sheer noise and heat generated.

After the heat died down somewhat, they looked back where they saw Shikaku last but they could see no sign of him, their view obscured by the smoke. Gradually the smoke began to drift away, revealing that the grenades made a smaller crater around the oni’s last known position.

"Did Lambo get him?” Kurumu was the one who mustered up the courage to mumble out a question, though even she didn’t feel like raising her voice any higher.

"I think so.” Yukari hesitantly answered as she used her hat, to keep the dust out of her eyes.

Tsukune couldn’t answer, his body shook as he looked ahead of him, watching with nervousness. This was an entirely different plane than the fights he participated in before. The very air felt heavy and he felt like if he made one wrong move, he wouldn’t live to regret it.

He thought that he was getting used to getting into fights, since being trained by Tsuna and the almost daily random monster attack. But for all this supposed experience, those fights were like playground fights between little kids, compared to this.

Was this the world of youkai he inadvertently stepped in? No, it wasn’t that. He lived among the supposed monsters who were in reality just teenagers with a few shocking quirks for months now. So, was this the world that Tsuna belonged to? The world he did his best to keep them out of, even if he was already part of it since he got hit by the first dying will bullet?

Thinking back on it, the harshness of his training and Tsuna’s cryptic words gained a whole new meaning. Was he truly ready for it, or was he gonna tumble around in the dark? It suddenly felt too much for the poor human who lived a painfully average life until now.

Was this what he really wanted?

Oblivious of Tsukune’s worries, the others sighed in relief, feeling as if the battle was already over. Yukari, her hands still trembling slightly lowered her wand, while Moka and Kurumu shared hesitant smiles. Their earlier argument didn’t even occur to them, rather they were happy to still have each other.

The only one who didn’t seem to lower his guard was Lambo who was still standing in his previous position, lightning crackling around him as he kept his eyes on the diminishing smoke screen. When he was younger he would have been the first to celebrate prematurely but just like Tsuna and his other guardians he also grew in his own way. He couldn’t afford to not be cautious right now.

And it looked like it wasn’t a mistake to do so.

A single foot appeared out of the smoke, followed by another as Shiakue walked out of the small crater. His pants and upper body were signed but there was no significant damage visible on him. What was easily apparent that he was pissed off big time.

"Crap.” it was Tsukune who was able to sum up all of their thoughts.

Shikaku ignored them as he turned toward Lambo who quietly cursed as lightning once again intensified around him.

"I know I said I will play with you but I am also a hot-tempered and impatient person so screw that.” the calm tone that he started out quickly disappeared as Shikaku practically snarled at the former lightning guardian.”You are definitely weaker than me but if I get careless I can get defeated even by weaklings like you. So screw this whole thing. Screw that Vongola brat, screw waiting for Saru, screw the whole mafia. I’m killing you one by one and I will enjoy it to the fullest. Starting with you.” he roared as he pointed a finger at Lambo, as the aura of power around him became stronger.

Lambo didn’t back down, even if he still looked slightly winded and there was no hiding the apprehension on his face.

"Gyudon! Let’ go for another one.” he called out to his box animal, who responded with a loud roar as both of them lowered their heads to charge.

"It didn’t work the first time, why do you think it would be different? Not like I wish to step in the way of your idiocy. Come at me, brat.” Shikaku taunted him as he once again lowered himself a more stable stance, seemingly intent on stopping the attack in its tracks one more time.

Lambo happily obliged, the lightning around him once again concentrated in his horns as he began to charge toward the oni, Gyudon doing the same from the other side. It seemed it would play out similarly than before, with Shikaku planning to stop one of the attacks and use it to send the second one off-course.

That’s why all of them were shocked when out of nowhere he charged at Gyudon, a savage grin on his face. He was surprisingly fast, not near Gin’s werewolf speed, or even the close to superhuman speed Moka in her released state tended to show but still faster than most of their group.

Reaching the bull, he punched forward, hitting him straight between his horns. To further shock the watchers, instead of the punch being either ineffective or simply stopping the charge, Gyuodon let out a cry as he was blasted back several feet and fell on his side.

"Gyudon!” Lambo cried out in worry, seeing his partner in trouble and he gritted his teeth as he came at Shikaku from the side, intent on landing his attack this time.”Take this! Electrico cornata!” he roared as he thrust his horned head forward.

His opponent only smirked as he let Lambo get near him but just before the attack could make contact he raised his leg and sent a powerful kick at Lambo’s side that launched him toward the tree, only stopping when he crashed into its base.

"Lambo!” Moka cried out in worry as she saw the young human going down and not getting up immediately. If she wasn’t supporting Kurumu, she would have ran to him, though it was doubtful she could have done much in her current form.

"Oi, oi, that was it? I told you not to underestimate me brat, I was done going easy on you.” Shikaku called out to Lambo but all he got was a pained groan in return as he tried to stand up but it was difficult. Shikaku scoffed as he turned to Tsukune and the others.”What a letdown. Oh well. Who’s next?”

Gyudon lay on his side, the helmet on his cracked and the lightning covering him disappearing. The bull let out a mournful moo before his body became that strange green lightning and slowly disappeared, similarly to how he appeared a few minutes ago.

Lambo was leaning on his arms as he tried to push himself up but he wasn’t in good shape. Even if it was only one blow, it seemed to cause internal damage to the young hitman, with a tickle of blood escaping from his mouth.

The others could only watch in shock at how suddenly the fight turned. It was a despairing thought that Lambo who was quite durable and strong was so easily defeated. Moka’s hands reflexively raised to her rosary and gave it a pull, wishing more than ever that she was able to remove it herself.

_ "It’s no use.” _ her other self cautioned, who could only watch from behind the seal, much to her annoyance _.”Your only chance now is to retreat and find Tsuna. If he can remove the seal, we could easily beat this Shikaku but right now you stand no chance.” _

The pink-haired vampire bit her lip, wanting to argue but realistically even she could see that Ura was right. But she couldn’t just leave Lambo behind like that.

"So who’s next.” Shikaku, entirely too pleased, brought them back to reality. The oni turned to them with a massive grin that belied hir earlier annoyance.”Or should I finish the brat off before starting with you? I mean okay with it, if you want to watch it.”

That finally broke them out of their stupor. Yukari was the first who reacted, maybe because of her friendship slash rivalry with Lambo. she swung her wand around before pointing it aggressively at their opponent.

"Leave Lambo alone!” she cried as various objects answered her furious call and rose to pepper the red-skinned youkai.

At first, torn branches and smaller and larger rocks rose and were launched at Shikak but soon were joined by wash tubs and other large and heavy objects that no one was sure where they came from. They just chalked it up to Yukari’s witch powers with the lack of a better explanation.

Shikaku only smirked confidently as he stood in place, dodging the smaller projectiles with minimal movement and sending the larger ones with simple movements of his hands. But still, his patience wore down quickly.

When an errant broom tried to hit him from behind, he grabbed it without even looking, the handle instantly torn to pieces as he gripped it. With a snarl he turned toward Yukari.

"Since you want to die so badly, you can be the first.” with that he charged forward, to the witch who hastily tried to send more objects toward him with a wave of her wand but Shikaku dodged them effortlessly.

"Yukari!” Moka cried out in worry when the witch hadn’t moved an inch even with the red-skinned teen almost next to her.”Sorry.” she quietly apologised to Kurumu as she let go of her and charged toward the young girl.

_ "You fool!” _ her other self cried out, equal parts of outrage and worry in her voice _.”In your condition there is nothing that you could do. You will only get both of us hurt.” _

’That does not mean that I can stand by and watch my friend get hurt.’ she answered silently, with an unusually angry and snappish tone as she got into Shikaku’s way and threw a punch at him.

But everyone, Moka included, knew that it would not do much. Most of her powers were sealed and her punch was a sloppy with hardly any form to it. In her defense, Ura while had an elegant grace around her, hardly needing any proper form since she usually got by with simply overpowering her foes and Omote naturally was more inclined to nonviolence.

The oni laughed mockingly as he caught her fist without any problem, closing his hand around it and trapping her within his range.

"Bold move, Pinkie. Ultimately futile but still bold.” he commented with a mocking grin.

He suddenly kicked Moka’s legs under her, then used the hand he was holding onto to throw her into the ground, creating a small crater as the vampire sunk into the hard earth, crying out at the sudden pain.

"Moka-nee!” abandoning all thoughts of fighting Shikaku, Yukari ran toward the fallen form of her adopted sister but the oni didn’t offer any mercy.

He simply back-handed her, with a casual flick of his arm, sending her to join her beloved sister on the ground. She whimpered in pain but didn’t rise nor open her eyes.

"Well, that was fun while it lasted. You guys apparently have no sense of self-preservation or the ability to see when you are outclassed. Oh well, you are going to die either way. Now, since you learned your lesson, stay still while I take my time with the bovino brat and-” his apparent gloating was cut off as a loud shout of rage came from to his right.”You’ve gotta be kidding me.”

He only turned his head in the direction of his newest challenger when he was punched in the face by Tsukune who was once again in his dying will mode, snarling at him with.

After watching his friends get hurt, Tsukune could no longer stand by and do nothing. Despite his exhaustion and Tsuna’s warning against taking a second dying will pill, he had no choice. He would hate himself if he did anything else.

As he felt himself ’die’ for that painful moment, he already understood what Tsuna meant by his warning. His body may have entered this empowered state, it didn’t help the weakened state his body was in after exhausting himself to begin with. And while he did not see, somehow he instantly knew that the flame on his forehead was just as unstable as he felt right now. That didn’t mean he would not rush forward into danger.

"I’ll save Moka and the others as I were to die!” he roared as he punched Shikaku with all of his might, naively hoping to defeat him with a single blow.

His eyes widened as despite putting all of his power into his right fist, all he managed to do was punch the oni on his cheek and slightly turn his head away, unable to make him take even a step back. That realisation chilled him to the core.

One furious eye glared at him, and the killing intent radiating from the oni paralysed him, even in this empowered state, where he shouldn’t feel things like fear or hurt.

"Wrong move buddy. You are out of your league, this is no longer a playground fight and you just made a very big mistake.” the red-skinned teen snarling through clenched teeth as Tsukune instinctively took a step back.

Pulling his right hand back, the dying will user prepared to throw a barrage of punches this time but he was cut off as a heavy blow landed on his stomach, a large tremor running through his whole body as he felt his feet leave the ground from the sheer force of the blow.

Tsukune coughed out blood and his mouth opened to scream but no sound came from it. Before the punch could send him flying, Shikaku reached out with his other hand and caught him at his throat in a vice-grip. He made sure to keep him raised above the ground and exert just enough force on his windpipe to keep him struggling to breathe but not to knock him out accidently. It wouldn’t be fun for the oni otherwise.

Tsukune tried to struggle out of the grip but his strength was simply not enough to even ease the hold Shikaku had on his throat. Soon he barely had enough air to try and stay awake and his defiant posture shattered as he admitted defeat.

With his fighting spirit lost, he also exited the dying will state, leaving himself hopelessly dangling in the air.

He should have been scared, almost every one of his friends were defeated by this teen, easily knocked out of the state that offered him momentary invulnerability and was taking his time to play with him. He should have been terrified because no help was coming, no vampire Moka for the rescue and from the sounds of it Tsuna was also in more than enough trouble for him.

Yet, despite everything he only had one thought in his mind. Not fear, but a single powerful thought. I don’t want to let him win.

"You know I didn’t expect much from you but you managed to set the bar even lower.” Shikaku commented casually as Tsukune with the last of his power glared down at him. ”I don’t know what you expected after I knocked around your friends like that, it’s not as if you could have done anything if they couldn’t.”

He had nothing to deny those words but he didn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing it hurt him. A hand reached up, grabbing the arm holding him up but there was no power behind it. It was an act of defiance, nothing more.

And judging from the snarl on his face, it gave the message across.

"Defiant to the end? Well, gotta respect the guts, if you have nothing else going for you. After all, what are you? An inferior version of Sawada at best, a convenient meat shield so he does not have to do anything.”

Tsukune’s glare didn’t lessen a bit. It wasn’t anything new, nothing he hadn’t asked himself. Ever since Tsuna used the dying will pills on himself, no even before that when he started training him, he struggled to not feel overshadowed by Tsuna.

The both of them were human but out of the two of them, people usually looked at Tsuna first and most of the time he was simply forgotten. After all, Tsuna had that distant, mysterious personality, he always seemed to be in control and he had the dying will bullets. Even the others in the newspaper group usually gravitate toward him and Tsukune was left simply trying to stand out.

And if you asked him a few weeks ago, during the time of the incident with Ishigami-sensei, he would have said that he resented his trainer slash friend a little for it, but that was no longer true. He realised that he was his own person, and just because there were similarities between Tsuna and him, there were even more differences, that set them aside.

If this guy wanted to hurt him with those words, he was very much mistaken.

"Sorry but you have to do with little old me.” he found himself using what precious little air he had left to send a smirk to Shikaku’s whose eyes narrowed at the stubborn attitude.”Until he defeats those friends of yours and comes back to kick your ass, that is.”

He grunted in pain as the grip around his throat tightened but didn’t lose his smirk, knowing that at least he was able to get under his opponent’s skin.

"Guess in the end, you aren’t as much of a coward as I thought. But it doesn’t save you from this.” the red-skinned teen growled as he prepared to thrust his empty hand into Tsukune’s chest.

Tsukune looked into his eyes, as a very last act of defiance and prepared for the worst.

"No!” a female voice shrieked, causing him to momentarily hesitate and stop before he felt all of his limbs restrained.

-0-

She felt so helpless, so weak.

Her friends, her destined partner, they were being beaten up one by one and all she could do was sit there and watch. Her body trembled, even though the poison that paralysed her long since lost its effect. Yet here she was unable to move and she despised herself for it.

Despite her usual bold words and attitude, here she sat helplessly, being protected by others. Just like always.

Back then, when Moka effortlessly defeated her, it was Tsukune who ran to her rescue. And it happened so many times since then, he was always rushing in to save her. Even now when she figured no help was coming and she was at Nagare’s mercy, after how she left her friends behind, acted as if she didn’t care about them, he was still at her side, fighting for her.

She hated this feeling, hated being helpless. Where was her usually haughty attitude, her cocky words now? If she couldn’t even charm her opponent or do anything to help her friends, what use was she? Why? Why couldn’t she do something?

Her friends were getting hurt because they came to help her. Even the aloof Tsuna, who she figured she had the worst relationship with, he went out of way and faced these guys alone because they threatened her life to make him comply. Because she was the weak link.

"No.” she muttered brokenly as Moka was slapped into the ground.”Please stop.” she begged as Yukari was sent flying.”No more please.” silent tears poured from her eyes as she saw her love being held up by his throat, unable to look away but not able to do anything to stop what’s happening in front of her.

Even when he was quickly defeated, Tsukune didn’t show weakness, didn’t bend, and remained steadfast. That was one of the qualities she loved most in him, yet right now all she could feel she was envy and self-loathing. Why was she simply watching, instead of running to her future husband’s side and doing everything she could.

Sure, the most probably she could accomplish was to annoy Shikaku before he beat her but anything beat doing nothing. She wanted to help, she wanted the happy days to continue, she didn’t want to be left behind. She didn’t want to be left alone.

She never had any friends, true friends at least. That’s why she tried to enact that messed up harem plan as soon as school started, she was just so used to being seen as nothing. Girls were jealous of her and talked her out behind her back or sometimes even in front of her and men, all of them were nothing but horndogs that just wanted her body and nothing else.

The newspaper club, Moka, Yukari, Lambo, Tsukune, even Tsuna. They were the first people who accepted and liked her for who she was, under that haughty demeanor that she became so used keeping up. They weren’t afraid to tell her when she was wrong but they never meant anything bad by it.

Then why? Why was she sitting there, utterly useless? More than anything, she was disgusted with herself. In the end, that’s who she was isn’t it? The damsel in distress, unable to do anything but cry and wait for the rescue. But that rescue would never come.

_ "When you think you have no hope, no strength to spare, think very hard about what's important to you.” _ her tears stopped as she suddenly remembered Tsuna’s cryptic words to her not even an hour ago.

She now realised that he was aware of her predicament and he tried to help her in his own strange, roundabout way. Only she didn’t realise at the time and to tell the truth, she wasn’t any wiser but Tsuna was always dependable despite his aloof personality and all she could do is to recall his words, hoping to find the strength necessary to help her friends.

_ "Think of them, about the resolution to stay alive no matter what. When you reach a point that it's do or die, when you have your back to the wall, don't falter. Don't hesitate but grasp the power lying inside you, that dormant power that awaits the opportunity to be used. You are you, Kurumu, not me, not Moka, not even Tsukune. You don't have to be like us, your power lies elsewhere. When the time comes, reach down within, shout out your resolution and show them your power.” _ his voice sounded in the back of her head and she couldn’ help but hope he was right.

But what was her resolution?

To be with her Destined One? To be able to stand up and do something, to help? No, in the end, she decided her resolution was something else.

She remembered having fun with the others as they worked on their newspaper. Moka with that gentle, kind smile as she helped her out, Tsukune with that eager grin as he gave his all to his current project, Tsuna sitting away distantly as if not participating at all, yet none could miss the slight smile on his lips. Even the annoying duo of Yukari and Lambo as they clashed over the most trivial things were something she cherished, just like Gin lazily sitting at the teacher’s desk ordering them around without doing any work at all.

She wanted to forget this whole blackmailing thing, to go back those peaceful days and finish their first complete newspaper together. She wanted this nightmare to end, for things to be right again.

"I want this nightmare to end.” she muttered, hands clutched to her chest as she raised her head to glare at Shikaku who was too busy with Tsukune to notice her.”I want you gone and to protect my precious friends.” she declared, her voice going stronger and stronger.

She didn’t notice it but her usually purple eyes were now a bright violet with barely visible flames of the same color surrounding them.

As she glared at the red-skinned teen that hurt her friends, Kurumu strangely felt stronger and stronger until she found herself standing up, just as Shikaku reared his hand back, the psychotic grin on his face leaving no doubt of what he planned to do to her soon to be lover.

"No! she cried out and suddenly she felt something inside shift before reality simply changed.

Tree roots suddenly sprouted out from the ground, before lashing out and wrapping themselves around Shikaku, restraining him completely. He let out a surprised shout at finding himself unable to move, to the point that he let go of Tsukune, causing him to fall to the ground in a heap and breathe in greedily at the sudden access to oxygen.

"What’s going on?” alarmed, he tried to use his impressive strength to break out of his bonds but found itself unable to do so. He caught her looking intently at him and something clicked in him because he started struggling with a renewed strength. ”You? What are you doing? Let me go!”

Kurumu didn’t answer, only staring at him and concentrating on this new strange power of hers. She felt hot and cold at the same time, her energy rapidly leaving her but she didn’t dare to falter or doubt herself, giving her all to somehow maintain the illusion she wasn’t aware of being able to conjure.

She felt as if she would blink, this power would fade away, leaving her unable to do anything to stop Shikaku from hurting her friends. So no matter how hard or taxing this felt, she grit her teeth and didn’t take her eyes off her opponents, desperation and anger fueling her further than she thought she could maintain the restraints.

"Kurumu?” Tsukune muttered as he raised his head to look at her with difficulty, his body exhausted beyond doubt.

"Let me go, already.” Shikaku raged as he tried to simply yank his limbs out of the bonds, with new and new roots joining, some of them even wrapping around his throat.”That’s it, you are gonna die first, you annoying bimbo!”

Unfortunately for the succubus, this newfound power of hers wasn’t meant to last because after a few seconds, her concentration finally slipped, causing the oni to be able to tear through a few of the roots. Those roots turned into soft indigo flames that disappeared a moment later, soon followed by the rest, Kurumu losing control over her illusions.

Utterly spent, she could do nothing but stand there with quivering knees as Shikaku moved his limbs a little to make sure he had full range of motions before turning his bloodthirsty eyes on her. She didn’t even have the energy to try and back away, or to even cry and ask for help. All she could do was just fall to her knees and wait for the inevitable.

"Kurumu!” Tsukune cried out in worry as he struggled to stand up, along with Moka and Yukari who somewhat recovered, as they saw Shikaku run straight at the defenseless girl.

"I’m sorry.” she whispered, her eyes blurry as she felt her consciousness slowly fade.

Before anyone could so much as stand up, Shikaku was in front of her, hand reared back to punch her and all she could do was look him straight in the eye, refusing to show fear. She didn’ fear him, she feared not being able to do more, of letting her friends down. But not him.

"So long, girlie. Don’t worry, your friends will soon follow.” he gloated with a perverse glee as he attacked her but at the last moment he had to pull back with a sneer on his face.

He held up his arm, just barely blocking a kick aimed at his head from the right. It had surprising force behind it, causing him to grunt as he blocked it. The grunt was followed by a louder cry of pain as he didn’t notice the punch coming at him from the other side, catching him clean at his stomach. Shikaku’s eyes bulged out before he was sent flying a few feet away.

"Oi, oi. I just can’t let you bully my dear underclassmen, can I?” she heard a familiar voice and she saw two figures stepping in front of her, though she couldn’t see them clearly through her hazy vision.

"Since when are you so worried about other people, Mad Dog?” another male voice, this one unfamilier to her addressed the first speaker, chuckling to himself. Kurumu was rapidly losing consciousness but as she strained her eyes, she saw one of the figures standing in front of her wearing something white, like a karate gi.

"Don’t embarrass me, you fighting maniac.” the first voice that now she recognized as Gin answered half-seriously.

At this point she finally lost the fight against her exhaustion and she finally fell to the ground, eyes closing as she lost consciousness.

The last thing she heard was the roar of thunder, then nothing.

-0-

’It’s taking too long.’ was the worried thought that ran through Tsuna’s head as he carefully ducked around a large tree, keeping his senses open in case he was attacked by his pursuers.

He was buying time by leading them around, while making sure they also did not completely lose sight of him. The last thing he wanted was for them to decide to join up with whoever is keeping an eye on Kurumu, before Lambo and the others could defeat them. It was a risky gamble, using himself as a bait and leaving things to the others but he hardly had any other choice.

In his current state he didn’t have much hope to defeat any of them and he didn’t want to leave it to chance by taking them all with the others backing him, especially with Kurumu’s life in danger. That meant he had to use other tactics, so he came up with this divide and conquer.

Yet despite Lambo being there and Natsu on his way to them, he simply couldn’t help but be worried for them, silently cursing his weakness and his bad luck for his past always seeming to catch up to him.

This train of thought abruptly stopped as his intuition flared to life, screaming him of danger. His body moving on autopilot, he jumped forward, doing a quick roll to get back on his feet. A powerful punch sailed through the air where his head was a moment ago, landing on a tree trunk that was instantly annihilated by the sheer force behind the attack.

"Whew, that was a close one.” Tsuna muttered to himself as he raised his head to look at his attacker even as he didn’t stop moving.

When he got a clear view, he almost idd as he looked at Mei in apparent shock.

At least he thought it was Mei, because of the distinct female features and the female school uniform but other that the girl changed dramatically since he last saw her. That or he was really that dense if he didn’t notice it before.

Her skin turned into a deep brown and looked way thicker than any skin should have business looking. To further confuse Tsuna, she now had four arms, two on each side, ending in claws. Understandably the sleeves of her uniform were torn off, exposing her muscular arms to the world. But it was her head that changed the most.

Her hair spiked in every direction, creating a wild, uncontrolled look toher. Her face was the strangest thing, or he should say, faces. Instead of one, two distinct faces rested next to each other, providing a strange effect, since he didn’t know if she was looking straight at him or not. The right one was more humanlike, mostly the same as Mei’s human form, save for the brown skin. The human face was happy, smiling and giggling to herself even as her eyes followed his with a single-minded devotion.

The left one in contrast looked monstrous, an angry snarl further ruining the image. Instead of a young girl, the face resembled more of a snarling orc straight from a fantasy novel, with two large tusk-like fangs protruding out of her mouth. If he needed to pick an emotion that aptly described that face, it would be rage.

"That’s new.” he muttered, Mei’s faces instantly zeroing in his position. In hindsight, talking to himself was not the wisest thing to do in this situation.

"Tsuna-kun! There you are. I was afraid you didn’t want to play with us.” the happy, human face greeted him like they were old friends, even aas her arms tensed. A moment later, he angry face took over, her voice deep and threatening. **”Stay where you are so I can tear you apart, from limb to limb. I promise it won’t hurt.”** her happy face once again took over the talking, sounding apologetic.”I will hurt a lot but you probably stop feeling anything after a while.” she consoled.

It seemed not only her face but her personality was also split into two, that kind of made sense of her earlier changes of attitude. Talk about bipolar.

Tsuna wasn’t given much time to contemplate, because Mei was already rushing him, her right hands reared back ready to pulverize him. Both of her faces smiled in his direction, one more psychotic than the other.

Instead of panicking he took a deep breath, watching as she charged at him, waiting for the perfect moment to make his move. While her speed was hard to deal with in a straight fight, thanks to their earlier game of cat and mouse he got used to it enough that he could estimate the speed of her responses correctly. Add with his intuition guiding him and the terrain around them, while he couldn’t outrun her, in this dense forest it was working in his favor.

At the last possible moment he dived to the left, feeling the air disturbed behind his head by the blow that he just dodged by a hair’s breadth, Mei unable to correct the direction of her attack in time. Tsuna allowed a rare smile to bloom on his face as he prepared to run once again when his danger senses flared up once more.

He looked to his side, seeing a large arm made of rock coming for him but it was too late to dodge or try and change his momentum. Gritting his teeth, all he could do was to hold his arms in front of him, planning to block most of the attack.

He was hit by a truck before, or even things larger and heavier than that but most of those time he was either in dying will mode or in hyper dying will mode so he could as well as discount them. This time, he felt the impact had on and he was pretty sure the bones in his forearms cracked.

He was also sent flying, thankfully not crashing into any of the trees in the direction he was sent, instead he found himself landing in a familiar clearing. As he slowed down, he quickly placed his hand to the ground, using the impromptu handstand to right himself and land not far away, grunting at the less than elegant landing and the pain coming from his arms.

He looked down, seeing the bruises already showing on his arms. Other than that, he was relatively unharmed save for the small scraped littering his body from playing hide and seek in the forest with a very determined seeker. He also felt his body burn a little from the exercise, but he refrained from trying to unconsciously use his flames, lest the poison’s effects worsen.

"Give up former Vongola Decimo." the large, rocklike form of Saru intoned emotionlessly as he strode out of the forest, not looking tired at all despite spending more than a few minutes chasing the human. Next to him Mei hopped excitedly in place her four arms waving around without any visible control or cohesion yet somehow avoiding hurting herself."You are clearly beaten, there no need to prolong the inevitable if you submit now I promise we will give you a quick end."

**"No, no, you have to fight. Fight and kill, there is no giving up"** Mei's angry face chanted with bloodlust almost rolling off her in waves, but a moment later her happy one took over."Please stop struggling, we can be friends before we have to kill you." she cheered much to the other face’s annoyance.

"I'll take my chances, thank you very much." Tsuna smiled grimly, as if he knew something they didn’t.

"Then, I have no choice. It’s nothing personal.” Saru told him as he cracked his knuckles but the look on his eyes betrayed him. It was very much personal but Tsuna didn’t mind. It was the same for him.

Just as the stone elemental was about to attack, the sky above them roared as the largest lightning bolt struck the ground not far from them, surprising all three of them. Forgetting their current fight for a moment, they looked at the direction of the school where the lightning landed, which was suspiciously in the arena where the two youkai knew their third member was.

**"What the heck just happened?"** Mei's angry face demanded before the cheery one continued."It sounds fun."

Tsuma's dry chuckle as he struggled to stand up reminded them of his presence, causing them to turn back to the beaten up former mafioso who had a small smile on his face despite clearly being cornered.

"What's so funny?" Saru asked from him, looking at him warily.

This whole situation was far from what they expected. Instead of bending to their orders with his options limited, Tsuna resisted and as much as Saru tried to take charge, almost everything that happened, happened because it suited the human’s needs, even when he was clearly outclassed in fighting power.

Sawada Tsunayoshi proved that he was more trouble than he was worth and it was using up the last of Saru’s patience to stop himself from recklessly charging forward and kill the smug-looking bastard. By all accounts, that was what he wanted him to do.

"Took them long enough. For being so worried about Kurunu they sure took their time." Tsuna commented as he dusted down his trousers without a care, a self-satisfied smile on his face.

He gave the two of his would be assassins a sharp smile as he took a few steps to the right, his back facing the direction the commotion came from. There was still a few feet between them but it was nothing Mei or even Saru couldn’t cross in a few seconds, yet Tsuna acted as if he believed they couldn’t touch him.

"Did you think I would roll over and die because you asked nicely?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.”I knew if you were about to lose you would use your ace in the hole, Kurumu's life." their silence was enough for Tsuna."That meant I had to bide my time until the tables turned. And that time is now."

"And what if we already had your precious friend killed?" Saru asked back a frown on his face. In response, he simply grinned at him as he put his left hand into his pocket in an uncaring manner. Unknown to them, his right was behind his back, reaching into his bag.

"Despite her looks, and general personality, Kurumu is a fighter. She won’t give up. And I’m pretty sure you are nowhere near as in control as you try to make it seem." the slight stiffening of Saru’s face and the uncontrolled giggling of Mei was the answer he needed."If what I've observed is right, most pure and strong youkai are much too isolationist as a whole, they would lower themselves to work with humans. So that leaves the weaker, mixed youkais. They either lack the power or prestige to really amount in the youkai world, leaving them to look for other avenues. Otherwise, youkais would be more well-known and relevant in the mafia. You wanted the dying will bullets along with my death, so you could gain prestige and power, combining your inherent abilities that already puts you above most humans combined with the Vongola's fabled dying will state. Feel free to tell me that I am wrong."

Satu in response could only grit his teeth in anger, giving him the confirmation he needed, eliciting a smug smirk from the human. It was unfortunate for them but Reborn was a very thorough teacher and that included politics, even if he despised that.

He would have preferred fighting them head on, without involving the others but his current condition prevented him from that. The next best thing was to maximise their chances to come out with a victory as clear as they could get.

"Enough talking.” losing his cool Saru snarled as he took a threatening step toward.”That’s all you have been doing, stalling for time. I had enough. You are an annoyance Sawada, one that it’s finally time to eliminate.”

**_"Yes, we are finally killing him!”_ ** for once both of Mei’s faces were in agreement, sending bloodthirsty smiles at Tsuna. It was really unnerving. **_”Die, die, die!”_ **

„Then come and get me.” he taunted them with a confident smirk as he took a few steps back.”But try not to trip.” with that he threw a grenade at them.

Both of his enemies tensed, arms raised to block most of the explosion that would cause mild annoyance more than anything else but instead of going off, it started emitting smoke, their vision was completely blocked a moment later by thick, white smoke.

"A smoke grenade.” Saru roared in anger as he realized he had been duped once again. ”Do you think a little smoke can stop us?” he rushed forward but as soon as he took a step, he heard an ominous click below him just a moment before a large explosion engulfed him.

Tsuna, who had been backing away in a strange zig-zag pattern, stopped with a smirk just as he finished putting on a pair of familiar, white mitten gloves that had the number 27 on them. He could easily hear the angered roars of Saru even though he was sure that the elemental suffered little to no damage and the unnerving cackle of Mei.

Seems like seeing others blow up was good entertainment for her even if the one blowing up was supposed to be a comrade.

"It seems you found my little surprises.” he called out to them, even as he fished out a small pill out of his pockets.”Welcome to this little training ground of mine where I usually torture, I mean train Tsukune and Lambo. But don’t worry, in preparation for your eventual visit, I made sure the training course was redesigned to fit your levels.” a devilish smirk came t o his face, if anyone saw him they would be reminded of a certain fedora-wearing toddler.”Here it is, the Patented Reborn Mine Field Mark III. Enjoy it to your heart’s content.”

A few more explosives rang out in the clearing as Saru and Mei tried to strongarm through the field but found that these explosives were much stronger and focused than the one he used before, meaning it slowed them significantly down and was slowly wearing them down.

"You think these insignificant little toys can stop us?” Saru glared toward where he heard Tsuna’s annoyingly smug voice, rage overtaking his features. His stone body suffered various cracks and burns but held strong.

Instead of answering, the mafioso took the dying will pill, making a face as he felt the uncomfortable surge of flames in his body. An angry expression appeared on Tsuma's face as his skin gained a lighter tone as if someone shone a light on him before the dying will flame appeared on his forehead. The mittens transformed in that same moment, replaced by black gloves with a metal X on the back of both hands.

"It’s not for stopping you. Only slowing you down.” he grinned at them as he used a burst of flame from his gloves he suddenly launched himself into the air, landing on a nearby branch. Looking down at them, he showed a fierce expression before turning around. ”Feel free to chase me if you want. But I will escape from here as if I were to die.” he declared before he left with another boost from the X-gloves, heading straight toward his friends.

"After him!” he heard Saru roar before his voice was blocked out by repeated explosions.

Even as he jumped from branch to branch, sparingly boosting himself with his gloves, he couldn’t repres the smirk on his face. Reborn’s version of a training field was far above anything he used on Tsukune before and it would slow them down enough to catch up with the others and place everything into their proper place.

It was even worth the risk of using dying will flames and worsening the poison’s effects on him, because soon this whole incident will be well and truly over.

They were in the endgame now.

-0-

**Side Story: Storm and Mist**

"How is she?” Gokudera demanded impatiently as he finally stopped pacing in the small room he was in, looking at the only other conscious occupant, his glare silently telling that he had more than enough waiting around.

After finding the malnourished and weakened mist guardian in front of his hideout, he gambled a bit, taking her to a contact of Shamal, that he knew thanks to his brief apprenticeship to the man, a mist user who would able to help to stabilize Chrome, which would allow him to get some answers.

Of course the man, a rather shady-looking doctor who worked primarily in the underworld wasn’t in a really cooperative mood. The storm guardian no longer had the rather persuasive name of Vongola behind him, he was once again a simple hitman at best, a nameless thug at worst. Even his connection to Shamal meant a lot less than he would have liked since his mentor’s disappearance.

Unfortunately for the doctor, Gokudera wasn’t in the mood, his temper was already in a short fuse, since his constant worries for his boss and that was before Chrome popped up in front of him without any explanation, bloodied and clearly on the run. And he was still Hurricane Bomb Hayato, a rather dangerous hitman on his own and the good doctor soon saw the error of his ways.

It still didn’t come without its cost. He promised to see the delivery of a certain shipment the old doctor was awaiting, probably drugs along with a few favors that would be collected at a later time. It grated him, partly because he hated being indebted to anybody, especially a shady guy like that but mostly because this move anchored him to this part of Italy for a while and that would certainly hinder his efforts to keep out of the notice of certain vongola-affiliated groups.

Still, his boss would have his hide if he learned he didn’t help the innocent half of his mist guardian. Also, Chrome was not someone who would appear at your doorstep, beaten up just for fun. Something was going on beneath the curtains, that something involved the girl, probably caused her separation from Mukuro and who knows what else. And his best chance to learn anything was the girl herself.

The doctor granted in annoyance as he looked up his work, sending the silver-haired teen a glare. Gokudera didn’t back down and the silent stalemate was broken by an unconscious hiss from Chrome, prompting the old man to turn back to her.

"Grunting like a caged animal will accomplish nothing.” he answered back in a hoarse, rarely used voice. ”I don’t even know how she survived so far, the illusion keeping her organs has been dispelled long ago, not to mention her other injuries. It’s a miracle she is still alive.”

The man was holding his hand above her stomach, a mist ring on his ring finger, a small Mist flame ignited on it. The ring was rusted and barely being held together, it was obviously a low-quality one that was at the end of its lifespan but it was enough for the job of restoring Chrome’s internal organs until she can gather the strength to maintain their existence herself.

"Despite how she looks, she seems to be stabilizing. I wager, a few hours and she has enough strength to wake up and generate her organs herself. What did even happen to her?” the doctor informed in his gruff tone, sending an inquisitive look to the silver-eyed teen.

The glare he received in response was clear enough that he was better off not knowing. In truth Gokudera had no idea and was waiting for the girl to wake up and tell him but there was no need to announce this tidbit. After all, the man still was part of the underworld and showing weakness was not advised if you wanted to live long.

"Thanks.” he answered in a distracted tone as he looked at the even paler face before he looked away, toward the door. ”I’ll make a quick run to my place to grab a few things for her but I’ll be back in less than an hour. As soon as she wakes up and can be moved we will be out of your hair and I’ll hold up my end of the bargain.” he informed the man as he opened the door, wanting to leave the smelly, poorly maintained room for a bit of fresh air.

"Of course. I, in the meanwhile, continue to take care of Chrome-chan, she will be in perfect health in no time.” he told him in a perfectly measured tone, a fake, polite smile on his face.

As soon as the bomber showed his back to him, the smile was replaced by a much more leering and disgusting one as he looked at Chrome’s unconscious form as if one would look at a delicacy put in front of them. His hand bega inching toward her when suddenly a large needle was thrown into it.

"Ah!” he cried out in pain as he grabbed his hand, the needle ended up quite deep though thankfully didn’t make it to the other side.”What are you doing?” his voice riddled with pain, he turned toward the only other conscious occupant of the room who could have done it.

He immediately shut up as he was met with a cold glare that could freeze even a volcano.

Gokudera turned back only halfly, one green eye staring him down. His body was seemingly relaxed, not at all looking like he just threw a projectile at the doctor, or he planned to do anything other than walking out of the door in a carefree manner.

It was easy to forget because of his age, his outfit and his general hot-headed attitude that Gokudera Hayato was a hitman, a hitman who survived and thrived to the point that he gained a moniker of his own. For any mafioso, not to mention at his age it was an impressive thing and spoke well of his skill, skill that the doctor who last met Gokudera when he was accompanying Shamal for a routine deal, was reminded of.

The reason he was not wanted by any of the larger familias around was the fact that he was a bastard, something really looked down among the mafia and his general temper that was hard to control on a good day. Other than that, he was a terrific hitman and it seemed time only taught him to manage those weaknesses of his.

"Don’t think I’m an idiot who you can fool and use.” he retorted coldly as he watched the man tremble in anger but made no move to attack. They both knew who would be stronger. ”I am the former apprentice of Trident Shamal, the underworld’s most well-known doctor and the brother of Poison Scorpio Bianchi, an expert on poisons. Just because I prefer the use of my bombs, don’t think I am so foolish not to make use of them.”

"What-what do you mean?” he asked back as he felt a shiver ran down his spine, the wound made by the needle, strangely began itching.”What did you do to me?”

"It’s one of my sister’s less-known and favorite poison. She calls it painkiller.” the smile on the storm guardian’s face was enough to completely terrify the doctor.”It’s impossible to detect and unfortunately for you, the antidote is her secret recipe so good luck finding one. Nothing will happen to you for the next five hours but after that, the poison circulating in your blood will finally begin to act. To start with it will attack your nerve ending, sending unbelievable pain to your brain. Then, after 2 hours of that agony, the poison finally turns even more toxic and starts to dissolve you from within but I wouldn’t worry. Most victims decide to kill themselves well before that.” he informed him as he turned back fully to stare the doctor down.

"You-you can’t do this to me. What about our agreement?” the doctor demanded fearfully, letting out small whimpers as he cradled his injured hand.

"Watch me.” Gokudera growled.”If you try to do anything to Chrome and trust me I will know, you will simply die. Stay put, do nothing and when I’m back and Chrome is awake, I will give you the antidote and will honor the rest of the agreement. What happens now, hinged entirely on you.”

The glare he received in response was laughable, and he couldn’t help but snort at it. After dealing with idiots like the Skylark or that damned illusionist, a basically noname, shady doctor whose only usefulness for him was his weak mist flames, he just couldn’t take him seriously.

"Don’t think of double crossing me, don’t try anything stupid and you will get the antidote in time.” he informed simply as he turned back toward the exit, opening the door.

"U-understood.” the doctor stammered out before visibly falling to the floor after Gokudera left the room.”That kid. He is exactly like Shamal when he was younger.” he muttered to himself as he drew his knees closer, hugging them for comfort. He didn’t dare to try anything now, simply waiting for the bomber to return and get out of his hair at once.

Outside, the bomber stopped in front of the building where the doctor used for his practices, lighting up a cigarette, his tense shoulders as he started smoking, uncaring of any adults glaring at him as he cautiously left the shady part of the town where the doctor resided and moved toward his hideout.

At least it looked like his bluff worked. Although it was true he wasn’t unfamiliar with most poisons thanks to his sister’s admittedly damaging influence, he didn't have a poison similar to it on his person. But thanks to a little misdirection and the sheer fear invoking Bianchi’s name could cause in grown men, it seemed to work for now. Still, he better hurry back with the supplies, the less time eyepatch girl is alone with that slime, the better he would feel.

Things started moving in a direction that looked like it would end up in a lot of trouble for everyone. The Vongola’s strange actions, the brewing civil war, Reborn’s disappearance. He felt like he was in the eye of the storm and it was only a matter of time, until the storm engulfs him and everyone he cared about.

He had a feeling that Chrome, or at least discovered something about this, which caused Chrome to end up on the run, though how she found him, he had no idea. It wasn’t a coincidence, that was a fact and that meant his position was probably compromised, which meant he should vacate that place now at the first opportunity and plan from there.

He didn’t like this situation a bit. He found himself fighting in a war in the shadows, with no idea who was with him, who was against him or even who he was playing against. He hoped that at the very least, his boss was safe, while he dealt with these newest set of problems.


End file.
